TALKING BUSINESS


ENGINEERING FIRM DOES A TIDY BIT OF BUSINESS


Family-run engineering firm Sartoris Products Ltd has built a strong reputation for customer service across a wide range of industries. As it celebrates its 70th anniversary the business’ marketing director TANYA WONG reveals what is in store for the historic company.


Sartoris Products Limited began life as a small engineering firm specialising in tubular steel fabrication in July 1947. It was launched by Dennis Eady and Bernard Warner in


Sartoris Road, Rushden, where it stayed until 1951 when it moved to Irthlingborough. The business remained in the east Northamptonshire town for the next four decades – and even survived a fire there which devastated its paint shop in 1986 – before it moved to its current home in Wellingborough in 1993. Today, the business manufactures products from mild or


stainless tubular steel and other materials such as wood and acrylic to enhance its product range. It has a vast and loyal supplier base, including employers in the education sector, the construction sector, the footwear industry, the health service and the motorcycle industry – which is one of the business’ fastest growing areas. Marketing director Tanya Wong said: “Our BikerTidy range is


doing incredibly well in the UK. It is growing year-on-year and it is definitely an area of the business that we would like to develop internationally. “We are very proud of it because it is completely our own


initiative. Most of the BikerTidy products are sold directly to the public through our website, although we do also work with tradespeople. “The motorcycle industry is made up of a strong


community – word spreads about good service and as a result we have a large number of loyal customers. “Looking to the future we want to continue to


build on our presence in the UK and expand into South Africa, Europe, America and Australia as we already have a large number of enquiries coming from there.” Since the 1980s the business has also been


heavily involved in the education sector. It provides an exclusive line of products for


TALKING BUSINESS


PHOTOS BY JANE RUSSELL PHOTOGRAPHY “So many schools use maypoles now because you can use ‘WE KNOW


them to cover different aspects of the curriculum such as history, PE and teamwork. “We also always have a boom in maypole sales whenever there is a development in the Royal Family such as a wedding or jubilee. “There are so few manufacturers of maypoles


THAT CUSTOMER AFTERCARE IS JUST AS IMPORTANT


one of the UK’s biggest educational suppliers as well as products which it sells directly to schools. It produces music stands and storage solutions and its


AS ATTRACTING NEW CLIENTS’


popular range of maypoles. Tanya said: “Supplying the education sector has become


harder because schools have tighter budgets so we have had to come up with creative ways of producing products very economically to help them with their budget constraints. “We produce lots of trolleys, storage equipment and play


equipment. We are particularly proud of our range of maypoles. 26 inbusiness AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017


and we are unique because we create a metal maypole which can be broken down so it can be stored and transported easily. “We have created sophisticated crowns to


allow for more complicated dancing and also provide mini maypoles for nurseries and


maypoles that can be used by students in wheelchairs.” To complement its maypole range the firm works closely with a maypole dance expert who can train


school teachers to teach the dances. In the 1990s one of the firm’s directors, Phil Mitford-


Barberton, took over the business and today it is run by Phil’s children Simon and Sarah, his step-daughter Tanya and his widow Bonny. Tanya said: “We have faced difficult years in the manufacturing industry, and Brexit has also brought new challenges, but we


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