Distribution business set for further growth with Yorkshire Bank backing

27th March 2012

Seventeen new jobs have been created by one of the UK’s longest-established wholesale tools and fixings distribution businesses on the back of a significant increase in sales.

The jobs, for sales and warehousing staff, have been created by family business Harrison & Clough Ltd, Keighley, which is backed by Yorkshire Bank’s West Yorkshire Financial Solutions Centre (FSC), Bradford, through the Bank’s Investing for Growth initiative.

Sales at Harrison & Clough, which operates nationwide as well as exporting to Ireland, France, Germany and Czech Republic, have increased by 15 per cent to £35m in the last 12 months in spite of the tough economic climate.

The company, among the biggest of its kind in the UK, sells a wide range of fasteners hand and power tools and industrial consumables, including its own brands, to independent merchants and distributors most of which are owner-managed family enterprises.

Harrison Clough managing director, Mark Hutchinson, says: “We are pleased to be growing which we put down to our committed people, increasing product range, customer service and our ability to create strong customer relationships through quality of service.

“We aim to develop consistent and sustainable business during the next three to four years resulting in further recruitment and possible investment once the economic outlook is more certain.”

Harrison & Clough Ltd, Aireworth Road, which was founded in 1899, now has 220 staff based at its 125,000 sq ft premises in Keighley where it holds 6,000 tonnes of stock. The business has 43 delivery vehicles and unstocked logistics depots in Glasgow, Leicester, Reading and Bristol.

Yorkshire Bank West Yorkshire FSC business partner, Michael Bee, says: “Harrison & Clough is a long-established quality business which is a market leader in its field and we are pleased to be supporting the business through our Investing for Growth initiative as it continues to expand and create new jobs.”

Yorkshire Bank’s Investing for Growth initiative enables businesses to take loan repayment holidays, interest-only repayments and extended loan and credit terms to help them take advantage of quality growth opportunities. Businesses taking up the package can re-invest the cash into their operation for expansion, new staff, equipment, machinery and commercial development.

Yorkshire Bank’s West Yorkshire FSC, Canal Road, which covers Bradford, Kirklees, Calderdale and up to Craven district operates in multi-discipline teams encompassing corporate banking, private wealth management, treasury services and credit and operates a traditional method of banking with funding from deposits used to support investments in the local community.