It all grew from the blacksmiths

When textile manufacturer Titus Salt built his famous mill in 1851, he chose a nearby company to make the machine tools for his workers to use.
Salts MillSalts Mill
Salts Mill

William Clark, founder of blacksmiths WH Clark, saw an opportunity to expand his business and started supplying equipment to the Shipley mill.

It was a catalyst that propelled the Calverley-based business into a new direction as an engineering firm.

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More than 160 years later the family-run company, now called Partline Engineering, makes components for a wide range of sectors and is reinventing itself once more with a move into the demanding oil and gas sector.

Recent investment in new machinery has paid dividends with two new contract wins.

Partline, now based in Shipley, has secured initial orders to supply valve components to the oil and gas sector worth an estimated £150,000 in the first year.

The wins follow a £160,000 investment in the first of two new CNC machining centres, which the company said would give additional capability and flexibility to machine more closely toleranced components to the high standards required.

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This year, the business plans to invest another £170,000 in another machine capable of producing more complex components more accurately.

The firm has three divisions: engineering, which produces components for a range of markets; Aire Erosion, a Leeds-based wire and spark erosion company which it bought in 2009 and forms part of the engineering division; and automotive, which provides spare parts for major buses and coach companies, including FirstGroup, Stagecoach and Arriva.

Oil and gas is a new sector for the company, which employs 47 staff across its two sites and saw a 23 per cent rise in turnover to just over £12m last year.

When its core business of supplying high volume components to the automotive market started moving to China, Partline decided to refocus its attention on making larger specialist components.

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Steve Hoare, sales manager for the engineering division, said companies needed reliable suppliers and being a home producer had given the business the edge.

“There is a lot of work in oil and gas industries valve manufacturing and we have spent a considerable amount of time working to develop the contacts and supply the components that our customers need,” he said.

“We took a strategic decision some time ago to focus on these sectors.

“We have invested heavily in machinery, skills and developing relationships with customers to ensure we are delivering the right products to meet their needs.

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“Partline has been working with our customers, asked the right questions to arrive at the stage where we can demonstrate we can supply the high standard of component they want in a timely manner and remain competitive.”

In the last four years, the company has invested over £1m in the engineering division.

In 2011/12 it bought two new wiring machines, which are used for making parts for the oil and gas sector.

One of the machines is one of only six in the country.

Meanwhile, other recent contracts for the company include an order for high-precision gear boxes to go into special purpose vehicles in Russia.

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It is also making some large motor casings for export to the US.

Mr Hoare said the company had weathered the recession “reasonably well” compared to other firms.

“We are growing as a group and we are hoping things are continuing to pick up,” he said.

“Our inquiry level is reasonable and we satisfy our customers.”

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He added: “Our automotive division is going from strength to strength – continuing to grow and be successful. We supply all the major bus and coach companies in the UK.”

Partline is now run by managing director Willie Clark, the great grandson of the company’s founder.

Mr Clark’s sons, William and Richard, are also directors of the company.

The family has a tradition of calling all first-born sons William Henry Clark, which goes back many generations and has continued through to Willie Clark’s grandson.

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Looking forward, Mr Hoare said: “The aspiration for the company would be to have a new purpose-built facility but we’re not quite there yet.”

It all grew from the blacksmiths

Partline Engineering was founded in 1829 by William Clark.

The company, then called WH Clark, was a blacksmiths based in Calverley, which sits in between Leeds and Bradford.

The firm later became a machine tool maker and supplied equipment to Salt’s Mill when it was built in
1851.

Saltaire was created by Sir Titus Salt in the nineteenth century as a “model village” for his workforce who worked at his textile mills.

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The company changed its name to Partline Engineering in 1996 when it started producing spare parts.

The business is now run
by managing director
Willie Clark, the great-grandson of the company’s founder.

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