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Innovators keeping ahead of the game

20/ 3/2006

FOR over 100 years, a leading Rochdale company has played a key role in the development of electrical switchgear.

First established in 1903, Whipp and Bourne has a proud history, building a business which today boasts an enviable list of high-profile customers and which also has a significant - and growing - international dimension.

When the company's founding fathers - two energetic and entrepreneurial electrical engineers, Charles Bourne and Samuel Whipp - struck their partnership, the business which emerged quickly became a commercial success.

The company established a clear specialism in manufacturing maritime switchgear, supplying equipment for, amongst others, the Titanic, the Ark Royal and the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Production began in modest premises in Molesworth Street but was moved to the company's present site in Castleton in 1907 and, despite two world wars and numerous recessions, its reputation continued to rise - particularly in the field of developing innovative new products to an expanding market place.

Following a change of ownership in the mid-1970s, the company was acquired by FKI plc in 1986, a move which has since seen the business joined by the equally well-known name of Hawker Siddeley to become part of the successful FKI Switchgear operation.

Managing director, Roy Milward explained: "Today, we are a major national and international manufacturer of switchgear for the global market place. Whilst our products are heavily associated with electrical distribution utility companies, our customer base now extends across an extensive range of commercial and industrial sectors.

"The success of the company has always depended on its ability to innovate. It has pioneered new technologies in order to develop an increasingly sophisticated and easy to maintain range of products to satisfy the changing requirements of its customer base."

The company currently has some 250 employees at the Castleton site and Mr Milward added: "Whipp and Bourne has clearly had a long association with the town and although it now forms part of FKI Switchgear, its heritage is something of which we are immensely proud.

"We firmly believe our commitment to total quality and technical excellence will remain key attributes. There is no doubt that some developments pioneered at the Rochdale site have broken new ground within the switchgear sector and we are continuing to build on our strengths as we look towards a successful future."

The company is about to publish a book, written and researched by Roy MacElwee, which celebrates Whipp and Bourne's 100-year history.