Tufcot, a worldwide leading distributor of composite materials, have forged a strong presence in Sheffield over 40 years. Beginning as one single machine being operated out of a garage by two former British Steel employees, the company now consists of an impressive 120 machines and employs more than 50 people.
The family-owned business has seen continued impressive growth in recent years and is now on a mission to uphold its legacy and create a ‘super site’, following the successful purchase of a new building.
Currently based on Coleford Road in Darnall, Tufcot purchased the neighbouring site on Catley Road, enabling the business to separate its manufacturing facility from its engineering facility to further develop the company.
“It’s been a nail-biting 12 months, securing the new site,” says Greg Majchrzak, Managing Director. “But, now that we have it, we can forge forward with our plans for business growth.
“Since the business was established 42 years ago, we have grown year-on-year, reinvesting heavily in both equipment and people. The new site takes Tufcot to another level.
“I am really excited by the projected growth of the company over the next five years.”
The company are in talks with project managers and architects as they plan to demolish to current building on Catley Road in order to develop a new, purpose-built, carbon-neutral facility which will house its manufacturing operations.
Greg adds: “This allows us to ultimately duplicate what we have in terms of the manufacturing area on our current site, but it will be external.
“The reasons for this are, firstly, safety, as our materials are quite flammable. By separating departments out, it protects the company’s future. If anything was to go up, we’re not losing the whole company and we’d always be able to continue manufacturing and engineering at our new site.”
“But also, it will allow us to hopefully develop a carbon neutral facility, which is extremely efficient in terms of the flow of the operations, but also the manufacturing process. We’ve got an environmental coordinator, Beth, and she’s really on board with all of the plans. It’s a big challenge, but we’re going to go for it.
“It’s been a nail-biting 12 months, securing the new site. But, now that we have it, we can forge forward with our plans for business growth.”
“It’s going to all be generated by solar power- that’s the initial environmental stage. Then, in terms of all the processes, we’re just going to make them as efficient as possible.
“So, it’s not a big development in terms of the structure of the company, but in terms of our operations, management and the actual processes, it’ll be huge for us.”
The company was advised on the purchase of the Catley Road site by Sheffield-based property law specialists Mason Thomas Law.
“I am delighted at the successful outcome of the site purchase for Tufcot,” says Cathy Thomas, solicitor and owner of Mason Thomas Law. “Being able to assist them with their plans to expand the business further in Sheffield was wonderful to be involved in.”
Greg hopes that the acquisition of this new site will allow Tufcot to continue to prosper, setting them apart from others in the industry. He says: “The level of service we offer compared with our competitors is just on a different level.
“For example, we state that for all quotations or sales requests, you get a quotation back within 24 hours unless it’s a complicated part or needs further development. Whereas, with our competitors, sometimes you can be waiting a week for just a reply because they’re that big.
“We can quote, manufacture and deliver finished parts before the competitor has even given a reply to the initial quotation.There are only five or six manufacturing companies that do what we do all around the world.”
Tufcot’s main trade is in bearings and wear pads for machinery for use across various sectors including the hydraulics, marine and oil and gas industries. Their manufacturing process primarily uses additives such as Graphite amongst others, which acts as a powder-form lubricant creating maintenance-free bearings in comparison to more traditional phosphor bronze, brass or steel bearings, which all need replacing, much more regularly.
They plan to continue staying ahead of the curve through this expansion, keeping product quality, customer experience and their environmental impact in mind as they set out on their latest growth journey.
Once completed, the new site will increase capacity at Tufcot by 50%, enabling the business to bolster its workforce by an additional 10% over the next three years. Greg adds: “We are a very proud Sheffield business. This is where we were founded and will continue to be based.
“It’s so exciting. I moved up here 15 years ago now, and I said to the owner, Elvin, there’s no way we’ll fill our new site in the next 25 years, and here we are 15 years later, developing again.
“It shows that we’re doing a lot of things right.”
Demolition of the Catley Road building is expected to commence next year ahead of construction of the new site, with anticipation for what the future holds brewing throughout the whole Tufcot team.