A West Midlands manufacturing business that provides much needed employment to a small Black Country town has celebrated 40 years of trading this month.
In addition to this milestone Howells Patent Glazing, based in Cradley Heath have recently received investment, which will create more jobs within the company.
The success of the business has been reflected with the offer of a grant from Bourneville College and the ERDF, (European Regional Development Fund) in order to grow and expand the company by providing help with promotion and marketing, as well as creating new jobs.
Walter Howells and his wife Patricia established Howells Patent Glazing in 1973 from their Walsall home, since then the business has grown substantially and is now housed at their factory complex in Cradley Heath.
The family run firm offers bespoke roof glazing for a variety of applications, working directly with the public and through main contractors. Throughout their 40 years in business Howells has worked on some huge projects including: The Mailbox Birmingham, Three Spires Shopping Centre, Windsor Royal Station and Cavendish Square, to name a few.
Walter Howells, Managing Director of Howells Patent Glazing commented to say: "We are thrilled to be celebrating our 40th year in business. We have come a long way since I first set up Howells in my living room all those years ago. Our business's success is testament to the flexibility of the British manufacturing industry and although the past decade has seen some lows we have every intention of continuing to grow. Thanks also to a fantastic year we will be creating at least two new jobs over the coming months."
The future is definitely looking bright for Howells as they are also currently undertaking a Growth Accelerator program with Ology Coaching. The programme has been designed to help mould the business through Leadership & Management training, and structured growth to take them into their next stage of development.
Gary Howells, Sales Director concluded: "We are really excited about the new focus for our company and we have high hopes that we will go from strength to strength over the coming months."
The roof light and patent glazing firm currently employs over 25 members of staff at their Cradley Heath manufacturing point, including five members of the Howells family.
Photo left to right: Tracey Jackson, Dave Bennett, Walter Howells, Gary Howells, Debbie Willetts
