Hitherbest, which provides sheet metal/punching, folding and powder coating capabilities,
has benefitted from assistance from the Business Energy Efficiency Programme (BEEP) and the Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP), with the latter completing a strategic review and identifying ways in which the firm can improve its energy usage.
“We’ve had a very strong twelve months that has seen us win a lot of work to produce parts for switchgear cabinets, industrial equipment and the heating and ventilation sector,” explained Peter Grant, managing director at Hitherbest.
“Five new jobs have been created, taking our total workforce to 35 highly skilled staff. In line with this expansion, we were also using our machinery and plant more and recognised the need to work smarter with energy to have a positive impact on the environment and help to manage costs effectively.”
He went on to add: “Internally, we didn’t have the right expertise to make it happen, so we decided to turn to support from BEEP and then the Manufacturing Growth Programme.
“It has proved to be a wise decision, as this approach gave us a framework and support for an in-depth analysis of the environmental opportunity that we knew we had, but simply didn’t have the resource or knowledge to carry out whilst still trying to keep on top of day-to-day priorities.”
Catherine Bray, manufacturing growth manager at MGP, added her support: “Hitherbest is a fantastic example of how SMEs can access our services and make the most of grants to improve their businesses.
“What we do best is forensically look at what is causing a manufacturer an issue and then explore ways in which we can overcome it. In this instance, we brought in Pro Enviro, who used its specialist knowledge to put in place modifications that are already delivering a host of cost and social benefits.”
Hitherbest is investing £350,000 into new technology, including the acquisition of a Trumpf Trumatic 5000R, which replaces existing equipment and helps the company increase capacity in line with customer requirements.
