Fire fighting vehicle manufacturer Angloco targets growth

FIRE fighting specialist Angloco has smashed the £17m annual sales barrier and is now “aggressively” targeting further growth.

The West Yorkshire business, which designs and manufacturers fire fighting and rescue vehicles, supplies to more than 50 countries across the world.

It has worked with the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) to help it improve efficiencies and build time at its factory in Batley and is now producing vehicles one month quicker than before.

This means the firm, which has been operating for the past 45 years, will be able to meet growing demand from its clients, including customers in Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.

Kevin Sedgwick, production director, said: “A lot our work is custom made and we have a wide array of different models that serve industry, aviation and local authorities.

“This can put a lot of pressure on the shopfloor and in particular, how we can best maximise the skills of the workforce to ensure we maintain quality whilst also speeding up the build process.”

Mr Sedgwick said this results in faster vehicle assembly, with some now completed one month ahead of schedule and below budgeted hours.

“By taking less time, we are able to create more available capacity for additional sales,” he said.

Angloco employs 65 people and said it is hoping to add to its existing turnover this year as it continues to aggressively target new markets and opportunities.

MAS’ Stephen Gregory said: “Angloco’s entire operations team took on board the continuous improvement journey and implemented changes, which transformed the supply of information, workshop organisation and material control over a very short period of time.

“The company is a flagship manufacturer for the UK, with its rapid response, fire fighting and rescue vehicles used in nearly every continent in the world.”