Bradbury expands again as demand grows

The business, which makes steel security products, is taking on two extra buildings on long-term leases and is buying new machinery which represents an investment of £1m.

Tim Strawson, managing director of the firm, which is headquartered at Queensway Industrial Estate, Scunthorpe, said: “We’ve moved from 50,000 sq ft to about 90,000 sq ft by taking on two more factories to add to its existing four.”

The Bradbury Group has been growing at a rate of 30 per cent each year for the last four years.

In 2010, it turned over £4m. This will rise to £12m this year. “Throughout this time, the construction industry, which is our traditional market, has shrunk”, said Mr Strawson.

“We’ve taken more market share from our competitors, including imports from China, and we have been successful in the higher security end of the market and we’ve also been successful in the utilities market by supplying sub-stations and water companies.”

In 1994, the business started on a site with 5,000 sq ft. “Then we moved across the road to another one of 5,000 sq ft so we had 10,000 sq ft and then we built extensions on both to make it 25,000 sq ft”, said Mr Strawson.

“We bought the next door factory which was 17,000 sq ft and we are at the stage now where we’ve moved from a total of four separate buildings which total about 50,000 sq ft to six.”

Barclays has provided funding to the Bradbury Group to help finance the extension of the manufacturing site.

Eighty per cent of the group’s turnover can be attributed to the production of steel doors.

Mr Strawson said: “We’ve got one steel door production line if you like and what we’re doing is we’re doubling that capacity by moving a peripheral production lines out of buildings that we have, taking on more, we’re building a whole new steel door production line. That will be operational in four weeks’ time.”

Mr Strawson said: “We have ambitious growth plans for the future and felt that the time was right for this new development to increase efficiencies and production across all our sites.”

He added that the primary driver of the manufacturing site expansion is to meet demand.

“Our demand is going up, this year we are 30 per cent up on last year and we are expecting to be 30 per cent up next year.”

Meanwhile, the acquisition of Ayr-based Newton Security Doors in 2011 gave Bradbury a foothold in social housing and has led to the development of a new style of communal entrance door to be manufactured in the newly extended Scunthorpe premises.

Mr Strawson said: “We produce a huge range of steel doors from relatively simple fire exit doors that go on the back of a factory to complicated doors that would go on a front entrance of a large block of flats that have to withstand tremendous abuse and have access control, lots of expensive features like soft close and easy opening features in them.”

The company, which has a subsidiary in Scotland, employs over 150 staff nationwide, the majority of them based in Scunthorpe.

“Our head count has gone up from about 70 two years ago”, said Mr Strawson. “I think it will increase a little further. I hope the new production line will make us more efficient so we can produce more products with only a few more people.”

Kevin Peart, relationship director at Barclays said: “The funding provided by Barclays will immediately enable the company to support higher levels of trading activity across their enlarged business and allow further investment and diversification of their product ranges.

“The management team impressed us with the focus and delivery of their plans and they are well positioned to consolidate their position as a leading UK manufacturer.”

As well as making steel security doors and fire exit doors, the Bradbury Group also supplies computer and data centre security products including server safes, server cabinets, security cages and cash transfer units.

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