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FEATURE: 50 YEAR MEMBER CELEBRATING 50 YEARS IN MEMBERSHIP


Membership of one of the largest chambers in the UK has helped a company increase its turnover by 40 per cent. Which goes some way to explaining why, for 50 years, ARMAC MANUFACTURING LTD continues to be a member of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group.


Mark McGrail, managing director


Chamber’s top brass manufacturing firm


BY SUE COOKE A


rmac Manufacturing, which was established in 1929, now employs the


third generation of the family and manufactures/distributes furniture components and ancillary brass products. The manufacturer has expanded its range of products and services and entered new markets it says, with the help of the Chamber’s International team. Director Ben Morby said: “We


Director Ben Morby


have used the Chamber extensively. We followed the UKTI's Gateway to Global Growth programme to help us to develop sales in the USA. “We also used the networking opportunities which are great events for feeding ideas. By being a member of the Chamber there is a great feel for us all being in it together and not paddling on the surface.” The company has evolved over the last 15 years to offer exclusive designs and fittings for the kitchen, marine, hotel and automotive sectors. Fifty per cent of production is bespoke for customers worldwide. Ben said: “We have started to do design work. We encourage designers


‘We encourage designers to visit the factory and talk to us and then we produce their designs.’


to visit the factory and talk to us and then we produce their designs. We also have some new contemporary lines for general sale for the domestic and commercial Furniture and Interiors markets.” The Birmingham company employs 60 people and takes on a number of apprentices to replace the skilled labour who are at retirement age.


Ben said: “Over the last 10 years we have invested in high tech machinery, such as laser engraving machines, XYZ Millers and rapid prototyping for swift product development but we still need the traditional skills of plating, polishing and hand chasing. We moved from brass to chrome plating but just lately we have noticed that polished brass is making a come-back, so polishing skills are what our older workers are teaching new apprentices. Mark McGrail, managing director of the company set up by his


grandfather, said: “In the 1970s, with the help of the Chamber, we began to export to America and Australia. Now we go into Asia, Russia and parts of the Middle East. Each overseas market is different in its demands. Some are more decorative like Russia and the Middle East, while the USA, Canadian and South African markets are more in line with the understated English style that we are better known for. “The future for our business is in export and increasing our range of


products. We need to keep the skills from the past and are constantly looking at training and retaining. We are very much a family business and now into our fourth generation.”


OCTOBER 2012 CHAMBERLINK 37


GOLDEN YEARS


50


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