Siddall & Hilton Products

£2m Investment in Mesh Welding Capabilities at Siddall & Hilton Products Ltd

Siddall & Hilton Products — 25/06/2021

Siddall and Hilton Products Ltd has made its largest investment in 12 years with the purchase of a new £2m specialist welding machine that has increased capacity and efficiency at its Brighouse manufacturing site, as well as creating up to 12 new jobs.

Under the leadership of chief executive Ian Thurley, the management team has undertaken a programme of operational improvements and the new machine will play a key part in bringing about further efficiencies and enabling the business to expand production to meet increasing demand for industrial mesh panels.

The new LGR102 welding machine, which has recently gone into full production, utilises the latest medium frequency welding technology and is manufactured by EVG, based in Graz, Austria. It has been configured to manufacture 100% of Siddall and Hilton’s industrial mesh product range and will be the fifth in the company’s fleet of EVG machines. The investment has been supported by Siddall and Hilton’s primary lenders, ABN Amro, with the support of a Business Growth Programme grant from the Leeds City Region LEP.

The new machine is capable of making panels up to 8 feet wide, allowing panels to be manufactured in landscape rather than the traditional portrait format. This maximises the number of welds per cycle and means that it will run 40% faster than any of the other machines in the business.

This exciting new phase in the business’ development also means that we will be expanding the team and we are actively recruiting mesh operators with a mechanical aptitude as we need to increase our pool of skilled employees. The company has established its own in-house training programme and feedback from our first intake of trainees has been extremely positive; they are enjoying their new roles and are learning rapidly. We see this as the entry point into an exciting career with a growing business, with many opportunities for personal development and career progression.

Located in Foundry Street, the business’ history dates back to 1895 when Richard Redfearn and Samuel Bedford founded Redfearn & Bedford; the company merged with Siddall and Hilton in 1958.

Today based in West Yorkshire, Siddall & Hilton Products Ltd are the UK's largest manufacturer of industrial welded mesh. Get in touch through the microsite today.

Automation Investment Set to Accelerate S&H’s World Class Journey

Siddall & Hilton Products — 04/07/2022

Local automation experts Sewtec has been helping market leading welded wire mesh manufacturers, Siddall & Hilton, invest in two automation projects to streamline processes and accelerate their journey to being world-class in their industry.

Based in Brighouse Siddall & Hilton are market leaders for the manufacture of welded wire mesh for high-security fencing including industrial and construction applications. Founded back in 1895 as a wire-drawing company, Siddall & Hilton has evolved enormously and today is on a journey to become one of the industry leaders of welded wire mesh globally.

In order to reach this global goal, Siddall & Hilton recognised that automation was an important part of the puzzle. Investing in automation has allowed the company more time to focus on driving the business forward and keep ahead of competitors.

Siddall & Hilton approached Sewtec with a requirement for a robot to automate the process of packaging and banding their finished product. When mesh fencing panels are manufactured, they sit on a pallet and are secured to the pallet by either steel or plastic banding. The robot picks up the fencing panels from an existing welding machine, places them onto the pallet and then once full, the pallet is automatically transferred through to an automated banding part of the process. Whereas previously operators would have had to undertake each of these steps manually, a fully packaged product is dispensed at the end of the line.

The second project that Sewtec are also working on for Siddall & Hilton is an automated pallet assembly system to complement the packaging and banding of the wire mesh.

Andy Dawson, Operations Director at Siddall & Hilton says, “We looked at three different companies to help us undertake this automation project, however, Sewtec were by far the standout in terms of their presentation, concept, level of know-how and their communication. They have been so professional from the beginning of the relationship, right through to today. This is pretty much the first step into robotics for Siddall & Hilton. This project is more sophisticated than anything we’ve done before and, all being well, this is only the beginning of what we can achieve together with Sewtec”.

Andy Perks, Head of Sales at Sewtec commented, “We’re absolutely delighted to be working with Siddall & Hilton. The two businesses align perfectly and we’re off to a great start on this automation journey. With so much scope for future endeavours together, watch this space.”

Why British Steel making – and British Industry – Must Be Protected

Siddall & Hilton Products — 09/07/2025

“A nation must retain the ability to produce its own steel and build its own ships — anything less is a relinquishment of sovereignty.”

Recently, we had the pleasure of welcoming Sam Sleight from Made in Yorkshire for an open, forthright discussion on the current challenges facing UK manufacturing.

Our Managing Director, Andy Dawson, was candid about the headwinds Siddall & Hilton (S&H) is navigating — and the steps we’re taking to build a more secure future.

Escalating Operational Costs

Our decision to transition to 100% renewable electricity — in anticipation of government emissions targets set for 2035 — reflects our commitment to environmental leadership. The Mayor of West Yorkshire, alongside regional leaders, has declared a climate emergency and set a science-based target for the region to achieve net zero carbon by 2038, with meaningful progress expected by 2030.

Aligning with these ambitions has increased our annual energy expenditure. Compounding this, a recent increase in National Insurance has imposed an additional six-figure tax burden. Unlike many international competitors who benefit from state subsidies on energy and labour, UK manufacturers are expected to absorb these rising costs independently — a growing disadvantage in an already distorted global market. Passing these costs on to customers is simply not a viable option.

People Power — Our Greatest Vulnerability

Despite offering skilled operatives upwards of £35,000 after two years’ training, finding and retaining talent is harder than ever. Our 12.8% turnover rate is below the national average, but every early departure represents months of lost training and thousands in wages.

The question lingers:

Is the next generation engaged enough for modern manufacturing?

How We’re Responding

Broadening the Recruitment Pipeline:

We are actively diversifying our recruitment strategies by:
Advertising in Bradford and other ethnically diverse areas to tap into a wider engineering talent pool.
Partnering with agencies specialising in skilled migrant labour, known for high levels of commitment and productivity.
Exploring veteran and ex-offender employment programmes.
Supporting underrepresented groups through a fair work charter, living wage employer, wellbeing initiatives, flexible working and engagement practices.

Driving Culture Through Continuous Improvement

Andy’s leadership philosophy is simple but powerful:

“Today’s performance will not be acceptable Tomorrow, we simply must be better”.

We foster a culture of constructive challenge, inspired by Toyota’s “red-square” exercise. While we don’t adopt it verbatim, the principle remains: new starters are encouraged to speak up, critique processes — not people — and contribute to improvement from day one.

Investing in People

In the past year, we’ve invested £250,000 in a new welfare hub, complete with:

Air conditioning for hot-shift recovery;
On site showers, bicycle facilities and charging.
Electric car charging.
Bean-to-cup coffee machines;
A games area for informal team socialising.
An open suggestion wall, where all ideas are welcomed anonymously.

It’s more than a morale booster — it’s a performance multiplier.

The result? Faster changeovers, fresher thinking, and higher productivity.

The Power of Regional Networks

Our partnership with Made in Yorkshire — and the wider Made in Group — is invaluable. It amplifies voices like ours, shares best practices across hundreds of SMEs, and opens doors to talent pipelines no single company could develop in isolation.

The Path Forward

Champion a Fairer Trade Framework
Advocate for tariffs that align with the EU’s upcoming measures and a long-term industrial strategy that transcends electoral politics.
Keep Investing – Even in Uncertain Times
Sustained investment in people and technology ensures tomorrow’s capacity is built today.
Strengthen Regional Collaboration
Lean on — and contribute to — the local network that is making Yorkshire manufacturing impossible to ignore.

Our Commitment

We’ve been working with steel wire in Brighouse since 1895. Adaptability is part of our heritage — but resilience is multiplied when shared.

If your business believes in backing British manufacturing, we urge you to share your story. Together, we can stay in control of our industrial destiny — and, with any luck, ensure the next generation creates more than it consumes.

Rising Profits for Siddall & Hilton Despite COVID Disruptions

Siddall & Hilton Products — 09/12/2020

Brighouse-based welded steel mesh products manufacturer Siddall and Hilton Products has hailed a resilient performance in its first year since an MBO in August 2019.

The company has seen its turnover remain steady year-on-year, with rising profits and a healthy order book.

Its latest financial results for the year ending 31 March 2020, show turnover was £18.2m, compared with £18.4m the previous year which included revenues of £470,000 relating to a discontinued furniture springs manufacturing operation.

Since the MBO, the business has seen improvements in operating efficiencies leading to a rise in like-for-like pre-tax profits from £1.07m in 2018/19 to £1.49m in the latest financial year – a 39% increase.

Founded in 1895, Siddall and Hilton Products Ltd is the UK’s largest manufacturer of industrial welded steel mesh for high-security fencing, general fencing and industrial mesh panels.

It processes around 20,000 tonnes of wire a year. With a 50-strong team based at its headquarters, the company is seeing growing overseas’ interest in its products.

Having led a consortium of existing management team members in the buyout, Ian Thurley, chief executive, is now promoting greater employee engagement and implementing plans for future investment.

He said: “Following the MBO in summer 2019, we have embarked on a period of review and improvement, including restructuring our back office operation which has enabled the business to run more efficiently and resulted in better profit margins.

“While the disruption of the COVID-19 outbreak back in March meant we were closed for four weeks, overall, the pandemic has not had a major impact on us.

“With our COVID safety measures in place, we enjoyed a busy summer and are able to continue to operate, even during the current lockdown.

“With much of the economy struggling, the strength of the UK’s manufacturing sector is evident with it showing resilience after a year of turmoil.

“Thanks to the skill and commitment of our team at Siddall and Hilton Products, we had the strongest July in over a decade and already we have a full order book into next year.

“Encouragingly, we are also seeing major international projects come to market and recently secured a significant contract in France.

“Despite having lost turnover during the initial lockdown and taking on the additional costs to become COVID secure and protect the team, we are fortunate that the business is in a healthy position.

“Our staff have adopted a very positive and supportive attitude and it is largely due to their hard work and commitment that we are now planning some major investments next year, including expanding the workforce.

“2021 will see the business move into the next stage of its development, building on the brand’s international reputation for quality and service.”

Siddall & Hilton work towards becoming a global mesh manufacturer

Siddall & Hilton Products — 19/02/2020

West Yorkshire based manufacturer Siddall and Hilton Products Ltd are working towards becoming a World Class mesh manufacturer through developing the business culture, processes, and policies, including achieving the ISO 14001 Occupational Health and Safety Standard by 2022.

Siddall and Hilton Products are hoping to learn more about Health and Safety Best Practice from fellow Made in Yorkshire members to achieve their goal. Pam Jackson, Business Development Manager, is responsible for Employee Resource Planning and Engagement as well as helping to benchmark the business. She said:

“We aim to become a world-class mesh manufacturer and to do this benchmarking is key. As part of this, it is all about achieving international best-practice standards. Our mission is to set industry-leading benchmarks to deliver sustainable profitability and becoming the local employer of choice This means setting relevant, challenging but attainable KPIs across the business.

A major step towards achieving this goal is to attain the ISO 14001 Occupational Health & Safety Standard.”

To strengthen the company’s already good health and safety track record, the company has introduced a number of new initiatives and procedures. This has included the appointment of a full time, NEBOSH-qualified Health & Safety Coordinator, holding daily briefings at which staff are encouraged to identify, record and highlight hazards to the senior team, ensuring that actions to rectify the problems are taken promptly, the introduction of a ‘near miss’ incident reporting system, company-wide CPR training and mental health awareness training for key staff.

Pam said the company joined Made in Yorkshire because they want to learn best practice from like-minded companies, she added:

“As well as becoming world-class, we want to be the local employer of choice to future proof the business. We became a Made in Yorkshire member because we are all about best practice; we want to learn from what other companies are doing and share our experience with them too.”

Established in 1898, Siddall and Hilton Products produce a large range of welded wire mesh products including high security and general fencing panels and industrial mesh for use in a wide variety of applications including, machinery guarding, warehouse racking, vehicle dog guards, cages and lockers. Experts in manufacturing and distribution, the company is also able to create innovative product designs to suit customers’ needs.

Could you help Siddall and Hilton Products with Health & Safety Best Practice? Help out your fellow member today by contacting Pam at pjackson@sandhp.com.

Siddall & Hilton Products provides new fencing for Huddersfield children’s hospice

Siddall & Hilton Products — 11/04/2022

Earlier this year, as part of its ongoing commitment to supporting charities serving the local community, Brighouse-based welded steel mesh manufacturer Siddall & Hilton Products provided a 130m perimeter fence and pedestrian gate for children’s hospice Forget Me Not in Huddersfield as well as making a £2,000 donation to the charity to cover the cost of installing the new fencing.

READ THE FULL STORY

Take a Factory Tour of a West Yorkshire Manufacturer

Siddall & Hilton Products — 06/05/2022

As part of Siddall & Hilton's stand at Backing Britain 3.0, you can take a virtual tour of the company premises through innovative 3D technology.

The stand at Backing Britain 3.0 is going to be available 365 days a year, giving people the opportunity to walk around Siddall & Hilton's factory, find out more about the company, ask questions and more.

Based in Brighouse, South Yorkshire, Siddall & Hilton Products Ltd is a long established manufacturer of welded wire mesh for perimeter fencing, industrial fabrication and construction applications.

With one of the widest product ranges in Europe, all products are produced in-house using five EVG mesh welding machines and the flexibility of our operations allows a prompt response for non-stock, bespoke designs.

A day in the life of a Health & Safety Co-ordinator

Siddall & Hilton Products — 04/01/2021

Sharon’s employment at Siddall & Hilton Products commenced back in 2003, as a machine operator in the wire products department making bucket handles out of galvanised wire.

This role involved a permanent shift starting at 2pm and finishing at 10pm with a team of eight staff. Over the next fifteen years, Sharon gained further manufacturing experience, making wire coat hangers, wire ties, ‘spider’ springs for seat pads, tension springs and double cone springs, whilst also being involved in supporting management with general health & safety-related work.

This department was permanently closed in December 2018. Following on from this, Sharon was appointed to the newly-created position of Health & Safety Co-ordinator in January 2019 and successfully completed a NEBOSH qualification later that year.

A typical day in the life of a Health & Safety officer involves:

o Regular site walkabouts to check for hazards and non-compliance with PPE.
o Check with staff for any concerns
o Attend the daily shop floor briefing to deliver the latest statistics and highlight hazards
o Conducting site visitor, contractor and new employee health & safety inductions
o Carrying out and documenting risk assessments
o Fire alarm testing and conducting periodic fire drills
o Working with machine operators to continuously develop safe working practices
o Keeping up to date with the latest legislative requirements and best practices

The provision of training is a key part of this role and covers mental health awareness, mental health first aid, fire safety awareness, general first aid and defibrillator operation and shopfloor safety procedures. Other responsibilities are health & safety related procurement including PPE and hand sanitiser products, general workwear and employee’s refresher courses such as forklift truck driving.

The role also involves leading regular meetings to ensure the company not only complies with all statutory regulations but also to promote the importance of health & safety. These include the Health and Safety Committee and the Employee Welfare Committee. One initiative to develop a stronger health & safety culture’ started in 2020 with CPR training for all employees, followed by the purchase of a public access community defibrillator.

The Company has also undertaken a ‘Walkathon’ in support of the British Heart Foundation. This encouraged staff to have conversations that would not ordinarily happen and supported wellbeing at work. Sharon comments that “With an interest in keeping people safe it’s great being part of Siddall & Hilton Products and working to build a stronger health & safety culture for now and the future as part of the Company’s World Class journey.”

Siddall & Hilton Products Ltd is a long-established manufacturer of welded wire mesh for perimeter fencing, industrial and construction applications.

Siddall & Hilton reaps the rewards of investment in automation

Siddall & Hilton Products — 30/09/2022

Welded steel mesh manufacturer, Siddall and Hilton Products, has invested in two automation projects designed to further streamline its processes.

The Brighouse business partnered with fellow West Yorkshire firm Sewtec to develop a robot to automate the process of packaging and banding its finished product. It is believed to be the only robot of its type in the UK.

The innovation follows the commissioning of Siddall and Hilton Products’ EVG-LGR102 welding machine in August 2021.

It has a faster throughput than other production lines on site, causing subsequent bottlenecks in the process as conventional product handling methods were not quick enough.

Sewtec was identified as an automation partner and the two businesses developed a solution – a fully integrated pallet de-stacking device introducing pallets into the production line automatically.

Andy Dawson, operations director at Siddall & Hilton Products, said: “We’re well aware that automation will play an important role in helping us realise our determination to be a world-class business with these projects marking our first significant step into robotics.

“Following the commissioning of our newest £2m welding machine last year, the need for a swifter, automated stack and wrap palletiser came into stark relief – in some instances the line is 90% faster than conventional mesh welding machines when producing standard panels, and our operators have needed to keep stopping the line while they unload and pack the products.

“Having looked at different automation companies, we were really impressed by Sewtec in terms of their concept, level of know-how and communication.

“By investing in this sophisticated technology, we have been able to recover the efficiency losses of around 10% while also improving the overall health and safety of our employees through a reduction in manual handling.”

Andy Perks, head of sales at Wakefield-based Sewtec, added: “We’re really pleased to be working with Siddall & Hilton Products.

“The two businesses align perfectly and we’re off to a great start on this automation journey. With so much scope for future endeavours together, we are confident there will be further exciting projects ahead.”

Siddall & Hilton Products: Who would have thought that our 125th year would be so eventful – or unpredictable?

Siddall & Hilton Products — 25/06/2020

Siddall & Hilton Products Ltd is the UK’s leading manufacturer of welded wire mesh, with its Brighouse roots going back as far as 1895. Who would have thought that our 125th year would be so eventful – or unpredictable?

We reluctantly decided to close the business following the lock-down announcement to protect the health and wellbeing of our employees and furloughed the majority of staff. We agreed to continue paying everyone 100% of their normal pay to prevent unnecessary hardship and to try to help keep the local economy going.

We returned to business in a cautious and limited way after a month and have spent the last few weeks investing in our somewhat cramped office space to adapt it to permit appropriate social-distancing measures. This has generated work for local builders, decorators, carpet fitters and glass partition manufacturers. As a result, we will be in a position to bring everyone back into the business during July.

During this time, we have also managed our cash resources very carefully to ensure that our business suppliers were all paid on time and in full to support our valued suppliers through the crisis.

Working closely with our primary lenders we have successfully refinanced the business in recent weeks and are now in a position to consider the resumption of our ambitious investment plans for new machinery and site development later this year. We believe that the best way to counter the economic downturn is through investing in our business to be prepared for the upturn when it eventually begins. This will provide further work for the UK and locally based contractors.

We might not be ‘essential workers’ or capable of providing equipment and services to the NHS, but we believe we’ve done our bit to save lives, protect the NHS and help to keep the local economy ticking over by ‘Keeping calm and carrying on.’