Holding Industry Together Since 1870
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Holding Industry Together Since 1870
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PRESS RELEASE - 28/07/2005 New start after buy-out at firm Fastener stockholder & manufacturer bought by management
One of the countries longest established fastener stockholder & manufacturer has been bought by its management after 135 years of family ownership. Williams Fasteners, which employs 74 people between its head office in Sheffield and nation wide branch network has been sold to a management team for an undisclosed sum. Tony Searles, who has been with the company for 27 years and was its sales director becomes chairman and financial director Susan Battersby, who joined around 3 years ago, becomes managing director. The deal was clinched with the help of a professional team comprising of bankers HSBC, lawyers Wake Smith and accountants Meager Wood Locke in Birmingham. Mr Searles praised the team saying " They have been absolutely superb".
The company more than doubled its turnover and made a series of acquisitions in the 1990's, gaining footholds outside Sheffield for the first time, establishing branches in Manchester, Middlesbrough, Norwich and South Wales. The company has been run since 1998 by Andrea Shelley a direct descendant of the founder of the company George Williams. Earlier this year Andrea made the decision that the time had come to sell the company and stop having to make trips from her home in Birmingham. Williams Fasteners generates a turnover of around £6.5 million a year, selling over 53,000 different product lines to a massive customer base comprising of steel works, construction, railway, mining and window system customers, ranging across the UK and abroad in Canada and India. Having its own manufacturing division allows the company to produce bespoke fasteners from standard and exotic materials in a range of diameters and lengths which go into, amongst other things, nuclear powered submarines. Tony Searles says the company plans to increase its turnover further and to continue to grow the business on the basis of high levels of service and its manufacturing capabilities. Mr Searles said " We want to expand - that is part of the reason for buying the company"
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Copyright © 2005
Williams Fasteners
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Williams
Fasteners, which is a trading name of Williams Brothers (Sheffield) Ltd, was founded
in 1870 and was based at Green Lane in Shalesmoor in Sheffield until 1997, when
it's head office function was transferred to Shepcote Way on the outskirts of
Sheffield close to the M1 to allow better distribution of its products.
