Manufacturer invests £1.4m to speed up production

A Barnsley manufacturer is investing in technology to ramp up production of its plastic products, including play tunnels for children and dogs.

The Naylor group’s Specialist Plastics division has, over the last 15 years, increased its supply of tubes, ducts and profiles to a range of industries.

Most recently, through a venture called ‘Naylor Agility’, it has started making and selling dog agility tunnels. It has now launched a new line in play tunnels for children called Naylor Activity Tunnels.

To meet growing demand across its range, the company is investing £1.4m in production line technology at its Wombwell factory to increase productivity levels by between 20% and 40%.

This project has received investment from the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP), delivered by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, through the Leeds City Region Growth Deal.

This £1bn package of Government investment aims to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.

Naylor made a successful bid for £100,000 with the support of Enterprising Barnsley, the business support arm of Barnsley Council.

Chief executive officer, Edward Naylor, said: “Before the pandemic, our Specialist Plastics division was struggling to meet customer demand across diverse sectors and we know we could have made and sold more had it not been for capacity restraints.

“We’re expecting growth to resume over the coming months and it’s important we increase our capabilities to meet it.

“This investment enables us to tackle production capacity constraints. With new technology and re-trained staff, we expect to be able to take on more orders and achieve a significant increase in turnover.”

Over the next 12 months, an automated production line will be introduced to manufacture standard tunnels quickly and cost-effectively, supplementing an existing labour-intensive production process for bespoke sizes.

Naylor added: “Our tunnel sales have grown considerably since we launched Naylor Agility dog tunnels with an e-commerce website in 2017.

“We’ve also seen export growth, shipping containers of the product to the USA. Whilst we want to retain the ability to produce ‘one-offs’ made by hand, our ability to access mass markets overseas relies on automation to produce more standard-sized tunnels.

“With new production technology, we expect to be able to take on more orders and achieve a significant increase in turnover.”

In addition, Naylor’s extrusion lines, which produce plastic tubing and profiles for a wide range of applications, will be modernised to quicken running speeds.

Naylor said: “The support of the LCR grant has allowed us to accelerate our investment plans, which might otherwise have had to spread over several years.

“We are now set to increase production by a third within two years. The anticipation of increased capacity will allow us to target new markets and boost exports.”

Roger Marsh, chairman of the LEP and NP11, said: “A key part of the Local Industrial Strategy is to close the productivity gap with the rest of the UK; doing so would mean more better-paid jobs, improved living standards and could add £11 billion to the region’s economy.”

Councillor Tim Cheetham, cabinet spokesman for regeneration and culture, said: “We are very pleased that the Enterprising Barnsley team have helped Naylor secure LEP business productivity investment in support of the company’s new ‘Industry 4.0’ digital technology which we expect to quickly increase capacity in its Wombwell factory.

“As an ambitious company and excellent employer, Naylor has committed to retaining and re-training its workforce alongside improving its manufacturing technology and this strategy will enable them to increase output and sales.”

Naylor Specialists Plastics employs 60 people. It is part of the Naylor Group which employs 350 people across three Barnsley sites; the others being the clay and plastics division in Cawthorne and the concrete division in Barugh Green.