Success points to turnover milestone

A Claro Precision Engineering product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Mar 4, 2003

Knaresborough-based Claro Precision Engineering is predicting it will top the GBP 5 million turnover mark by 2008, thanks to its on-going investment in equipment and high-quality staff.

Knaresborough-based Claro Precision Engineering, which is celebrating 25 years of success, is looking to the future with renewed vigour and confidence and is predicting it will top the GBP 5 million turnover mark by 2008, thanks to its on-going investment in equipment and high-quality staff.

The company began in Starbeck, Harrogate, in 1978 when three engineers got together to invest just GBP 4000 in the venture.

And while its success was not quite instant, business soon began to boom.

Having outgrown its original home in part of a former laundry by 1983, Claro moved to Manse Lane in Knaresborough in 1983, where more success followed.

In less than three years Claro expanded into a second unit.

Claro's turnover in its first year was GBP 62,605 - Managing Director Howard Chadwick still has the accounts carefully filed away - and the figure topped the GBP 1 million mark in 1990.

From the original three, the workforce has grown to 42 and there is scope to take the payroll to somewhere around the 50 mark over the coming years.

The company began by producing press tools for the printed circuit industry together with plastic injection mould tools but there was a rethink of the way the business was going in 1981 because of spiralling demand for precision-machined parts.

So Claro invested in its first computer numerical control (CNC) machine.

Today it has 15 of them and is one of the best-known contract manufacturing businesses of its kind in the UK, supplying into a range of quality critical industries.

Although a lot of its work is for businesses in the medical field, markets like aerospace, defence, fire protection, security, sub-sea and telecommunications have all benefited from the Claro touch.

The figures for 2001-2002 showed turnover up by 18% on the previous year with an improvement in profits of 12%.

The target for the current year will be exceeded by 8-10%, with the GBP 5 million mark pencilled in for June 2008.

Chadwick and his board put success down to independence, robustness and - perhaps most importantly - their loyal and expert workforce.

"We have plans for further investment in terms of machine tools and our manufacturing technology generally will be improved", said Chadwick.

"And we are intent on putting out some of the less complex parts to subcontractors where we are involved in total project management.

There is no reason why others should not tackle some of the work under our guidance and quality control without compromising our standards".

He adds: "So far we have been able to achieve what customers want through our own continually increased efficiency and investment in equipment to the very latest specifications, together with the development of the skills of the people who use the equipment.

And that applies right through the company.

It is not about people running around faster, it is about using better methods.

Work smarter rather than harder", said Chadwick.