'Mixed emotions' as Yorkshire family firm closes 134-year-old clay pipe business to focus on plastic products

But following a gradual decline in demand in recent decades and growing interest in plastic pipes, the company’s business model has evolved. It acquired an initial plastic extrusion line in 1999 and has since built up a “comprehensive offering” of plastic drainage and ducting products.

In its newly-published results for the year ending February 29, the company has now confirmed it has closed down its clay drainage business.

The change has freed up around 4,000m2 of production space at its site in Cawthorne for a major redevelopment that will allow the plastic business to grow further as part of a wider £10m investment programme in the business.

Chief executive Edward Naylor said of the changes: “We have mixed emotions about the closure of our clay pipe business. Strategically, focusing our pipe business on the growing plastic market is clearly the right thing to do and there are tremendous growth opportunities in this industry.

"At the same time, clay pipe production is very much part of our heritage, being the product we started out manufacturing when we were founded in 1890.”

The changes are part of a wider company restructure now comprises two groups under common ownership but independent from each other in structure: Naylor Drainage Ltd, a focused plastic pipe business, and Naylor Industries Ltd, a more diverse group of concrete, plastic extrusion and technical construction product businesses.

The company has also merged its Yorkshire Flowerpot gardenware business with Welsh-based terracotta pot manufacturer Smith & Jennings to form a 50/50 joint venture, which recently completed construction of a purpose-built manufacturing facility at Cawthorne.

Mr Naylor said: “The year has been transformational: we have reshaped the group and undertaken a major investment programme. Despite difficult trading conditions, sales and profitability have held up well.”

Naylor’s turnover decreased eight per cent to £72.0m (2023: £77.9m) during the financial year, while underlying operating profit was down to £5.3m from a previous £6m.

The company’s results said: “Excluding Clay and Gardenware, turnover is static, showing that turnover in our ongoing businesses remained robust in the face of difficult market conditions.

"Given a difficult economic background and the disruption caused both by exiting the clay business as well as major construction works on the Cawthorne site, margins and profitability have held up reasonably well.”

The company said it had been a “rather turbulent” year for its concrete products division due to a “collapse in demand for concrete fencing” which it attributed to cost-of-living challenges for consumers.

It said while last year’s results in this area were “disappointing”, a restructure which has involved the downsizing of its Garforth office and the centralising of operations at its Barugh Green site “leaves the company well placed to increase profitability and grow sales in 2024/5”.