INSIGHT Landmark year for Jubilee® S
o brilliant in fact that, ninety years down the line his brainchild, the now world-famous Jubilee®
continues to go from strength to strength as its manufacturer celebrates its 90th
anniversary. The Jubilee® Clip, a registered trademark of L. Robinson & Co
(Gillingham) Ltd is a ubiquitous product – you can quite literally find it everywhere you look. In virtually every manufacturing sector or industry (automotive, marine, agriculture, heating & ventilation) Jubilee®
The watchword is ‘quality’ Every year L. Robinson & Co manufactures ‘tens of millions’
Clips,
in different sizes and configurations, provide temporary or semi- permanent connections for all types of hosing, tubing and ducting. Using premium grade materials, innovative design and advanced manufacturing technologies, Jubilee®
Clips
are recognised worldwide for their quality,
reliability, high performance and cost competitiveness. The new managing director of L. Robinson & Co (Gillingham)
Ltd is Ian Jennings (pictured above), the great grandson of Commander Lumley Robinson. Heritage and pedigree are important issues to the Jubilee®
Clip manufacturer. Ian
Jennings says: “We’re proud of our history... but our sights are firmly set on the future.” The family-owned business is today unrecognisable in many respects from the fledgling company first established by Commander Lumley but it is still run on the same, sound business principles that served it so well in the past.
Guiding principles Every successful business has a number of guiding principles
that permeate the organisation - shaping everything it does. L. Robinson & Co is no different. “Our unswerving commitment to product quality and a customer focused business approach built on integrity, trust and creating brand loyalty are as relevant today and in the future as they were in 1921,” explains Ian Jennings. Adherence to these principles means L. Robinson & Co
constantly reviews its entire operation (manufacturing, quality control, sales and after-sales). In recent years it has: • Relocated to its current, more spacious facility in Gillingham, Kent.
• Developed and strengthened its distributor and agency networks in Europe, and the rest of the world.
56 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 69 May 2011
of its products that, via its distributor networks, ultimately find their way to all corners of the world. There are currently over 580 different product ‘types’ manufactured by the company, all carrying its ‘quality’ Kitemark. “We live or die by the quality and reliability of our products,” sys Ian Jennings. “We were instrumental in creating the first UK Quality Standard for worm- drive hose clips in the 1960s (BS 3628), and were one of the first manufacturers to be accredited to the BS 5750 Standard in 1987.” This commitment to quality is further evidenced by the company’s current BS EN ISO 9001: 2000 certification, and UK Ministry of Defence quality accreditation. “Quality is, and has always been, a key differentiator for us,”
says Ian Jennings. “During the 1950s and 1960s the UK hose clip market was flooded by cheaper and, in some instances, ‘copy’ products.” “The Jubilee®
Clip name became a generic term for hose
clips and, despite making it a registered trademark, the size and complexity of the hose clip market made and still continues to make trademark protection and policing a difficult, if not impossible, nut to crack.” For L. Robinson & Co this is a critical issue and explains
why much of its marketing and promotional activities focus on Jubilee®
Clip’s USPs - “quality grade raw materials, quality
manufacturing methods and quality control, and quality service.” Ian Jennings acknowledges: “Customer understanding and education about why Jubilee®
Clips are premium products
continue to be a big issue for us. There are a number of factors that influence a customer’s hose clip selection - including price, availability, performance - and that’s why we need to keep on hammering the message home that a hose clip that doesn’t carry the registered Jubilee®
Clip and won’t perform like a Jubilee®
Market presence and penetration The hose clip market is mature, and L. Robinson & Co is
constantly looking at new ways to increase its market share, especially in Europe. “Not surprisingly we are a leading player in the UK market which accounts for about 50% of our sales turnover,” says Ian Jennings. “Whilst the domestic market is clearly important to us – the opportunities for growth lie in our export business.” L. Robinson & Co has become far more active in Europe,
which the company now sees as its ‘home’ market, and has developed a strong market presence in Germany, Holland and Poland. “From our base in Kent,” says Ian Jennings, “I can get to our German offices and warehouse much faster than I can get to many parts of the UK – so travel and logistics aren’t a problem. Set up in 1988, Jubilee®
Clips Deutschland GmbH provides us
with a strategic hub to meet demand in Europe and tap into a market some 60% larger by population than the US.” Jennings reckons the key to exploiting the potential in European
Clip, Clip
Ninety years ago in post World War 1 Britain - when Winston Churchill was appointed colonial secretary (years before he became prime minister), and when Shackleton set sail on his last expedition to Antarctica - retired naval officer, Commander Lumley Robinson had an idea. His subsequent design for a hardwearing, reliable and secure worm drive hose clip was brilliantly simple.
• Introduced new product lines. • Invested in new manufacturing equipment, streamlining and further automating its production capabilities.
trademark – simply isn’t a Jubilee® Clip either.”
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