Cummins award for Vanguard
Vanguard’s Chris Mintern and Richard Bingham, holding the award, with senior executives from Cummins
Vanguard Foundry Ltd has been recognised as a leading supplier of by global automotive manufacturer Cummins, for which it produces turbo-charger castings.
The award was received at Cummins’ recent UK conference.
Managing director John Willetts said: “My fellow MD Chris Mintern and our Business Development Manager Richard Bingham attended the conference. We had no idea we were going to get an award. There were people from all over the world there, including some very senior Cummins directors, and we were presented as a company that had really gone out of its way to provide a high level of support.”
Vanguard Foundry has supplied Cummins with iron turbo charger castings since 1990. The importance to the Foundry of that particular product has been such that this year it accounted for ‘the lions share’ of its £10m annual turnover.
Mr Willetts added: “The turbo charger business has gone through a big growth sprout since the end of the recession and Cummins has been talking to their suppliers to ensure they have the capacity to keep up with the growth that they’ve seen in recent months. We’ve been there for Cummins during this period and were recognised for the endeavours of our workforce and the investment we’ve made.”
Despite the company investing around £500,000 in its Bott Lane plant this year, Mr Willets believes it is Vanguard’s workforce that has been the driving force behind its success.
He said: “Even if you throw money at a company the success doesn’t happen instantly. You have to be prepared to go the extra mile and have people who put the effort in. We have an exemplary workforce that we’re really proud of.”
These lucrative times are in stark contrast to just two years ago when the company was forced into reducing its 108-strong workforce to just 65. Now employing 127 people with the security of a long and fruitful partnership with Cummins, John, who retires at the end of September, is happy to leave the company in such a healthy state. He said: “The success has been good for the company and good for the area as a whole. It’s a nice feeling to leave on such a high note. We’ve worked hard to ensure a good succession plan and there is a very strong management team in place. We’re confident of further growth on top of this year with the investment to support that.”
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