Burton & District Burton & District Chamber Patrons
Contact: Chris Plant T: 0845 603 6650
An evening with
Josephine Fairley The co-founder of organic chocolate maker Green & Black’s, Josephine Fairley (pictured), will be guest speaker at ‘An Evening with Women in Business’ event, on 6 October at Hoar Cross Hall Spa Hotel. Green & Black’s, founded in
1991, has developed into a £100million worldwide brand. The event will be the first of its kind, and the
aim is to build on the success of the Women in Business networking programme launched three years ago by Burton Commerce and its partners, FCM Associates, Smith Partnership Solicitors and Hoar Cross Hall Spa Hotel. Women in Business partner Claire Twells, from
Manufacturing veteran: Ken Logue (second left) and key members of his team
Veteran Ken is still looking to the future
By Jon Griffin
Veteran company boss Ken Logue is still at the cutting-edge of engineering after a marathon 60 years – and predicts a ‘healthy future’ for the UK industry. Ken, 77, is still putting in the hours as chairman of Burton-on-Trent-based Mid-Anglia Engineering Ltd, heading a 12-strong workforce with a proud reputation for quality.
‘If you are competing with China, the only way to do that is by competing at the top end of the market’
The firm was founded in 1970 – and 46 years later exports make almost 40 per cent of Mid- Anglia’s £1 million annual turnover. Mid-Anglia recently won a £180,000 second
order from a Manchester company to manufacture two new high-speed process lines to assemble and combine plastic components – and Ken says ‘this customer remains at the top of its game’. He added: “One managing director said to
me: ‘If Mid-Anglia are doing a job for me, I sleep easily at night.’ I believe there is still a healthy future for engineering but it has to be about quality and the price has to be right.
“If you are competing with China, the only
way to do that is by competing at the top end of the market. We are still at the cutting edge and there is a market out there for us but exports have got to be a fairly significant part. “You are talking about high-value products,
not cheap products. Quality becomes very important... there was more local competition in 1970 because there were a lot more manufacturing companies about then. “There is less competition now but there are
also less opportunities.” Mid-Anglia boasts a wide client base, and its
products are in a string of European countries, as well as Dubai, China, India and the USA, its single biggest export market. The company has also worked with Jaguar
Land Rover suppliers, whilst making rigs for the likes of JLR, Ford and Mazda. “For the last version of the Defender, we
made a rig that will go from zero to 45 degrees and rotate to display the vehicle. “We try to maintain a wide customer base –I
like to keep the variety. Part of the secret here is that we are versatile and enjoy a challenge. “I am very keen to only do the jobs that I
think we can do successfully. We probably turn away half of the requests we get because they do not fit in with our design and manufacturing mix. You can take on a job that does not have a clear end and make a lot of losses.”
On the starting grid: Top student Charles Moore with Kane Bramhall and Lee Walters
Charles engineers
his career at HPP Charles Moore, an engineering student at Burton and South Derbyshire College, has won a guaranteed interview for an apprenticeship with Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP), after impressing the company with achievements on his course. Charles emerged as top performing student
among those taking the college’s level 3 engineering course, and won a £500 prize, a week’s work experience at Mercedes HPP and a guaranteed interview at their assessment centre for an apprenticeship.
October 2016 CHAMBERLINK 29
Smith Partnership, said: “We are absolutely delighted to launch our first ‘An Evening with Women in Business’ event, with world-famous entrepreneur Josephine Fairley. “The new spectacular annual event will offer
120 ladies a vibrant evening with a very special speaker, designed to inspire all working women. “Women in Business offers a programme of
vibrant professional activities to inspire all working women, whether you run your own business or have a key role in a larger business.”
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