News: Exol's pride in bringing barges back to Rotherham's waterways

Exol Lubricants has recently added a new barge, "Exol Pride," to its fleet, which will transport raw materials from Hull to its bulk blending plant in Rotherham.

Exol is the largest independent lubricants company in the UK and is headquartered in Wednesbury in the West Midlands. The Rotherham site at Northfield Road was formerly known as Greenline Oils and manufactures lubricants from base oil transported from Hull.

The new investment means that the company is able to transport approximately 500 tonnes of raw material per barge and Exol believes that by using barge transport, it is able to benefit from a cost-effective, efficient, safe, green and sustainable option, minimising its carbon footprint while transporting large loads.

Exol has been a long term user of the waterways, leading the oil and lubricants market by using an environmentally friendly option while transporting large loads on the "Humber Princess." The company has been commended for its reduction in carbon footprint and has even featured in ITV's Barging about Britain, hosted by John Sergeant.

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Operator, Mainmast have renamed the former tank barge "Humber Pride" as "Exol Pride" and repainted in Exol group livery. It carried its first load in April.

The barge is expected to make one or two deliveries a week and thus avoid the use of lorries. The barge journey covers 65 miles and takes between 10-12 hours. This means the whole cargo is delivered more quickly than if the barge crew drove lorries. Furthermore, utilising the figures produced by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change barges produce only 25% of the emissions of those from lorries.

Steve Dunn, sales director at Exol Lubricants, said: "Exol Pride is part of our strategy in aligning the Exol brand with the company’s philosophy of supplying customers with the highest quality product, backed up by market leading support and service."

David Lowe, chairman of the Commercial Boat Operators Association, added: "The barge represents 18 heavy goods lorries, use of the barge saves time, avoids pollution from lorry engines and also helps reduce road congestion, particularly on the roads around Exol's Rotherham depot."

Where road travel is essential, Exol maintains one of the most economical fleets on UK roads, comprising a mix of dual-purpose vehicles and large tanker trucks to transport both bulk and packaged Exol products to customers across a variety of sectors including agricultural, automotive, industrial, marine and rail.

The canalisation of the river Don in the mid 18th century made Rotherham an important inland port, and encouraged the growth of industry, even though the waterway was soon superseded by the railways.

Exol Lubricants website

Images: Exol / Mainmast

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News: Rotherham firms in Yorkshire's top 250

Leading Rotherham companies are amongst the mid-market firms that are driving growth in the region, according to the Yorkshire Report 2015, published today by accountancy and business advisory firm BDO LLP.

The top 250 firms in Yorkshire have increased revenues by £6bn to £102bn, and now have cash in the bank in excess of £3.2bn – an almost £1bn leap from the previous reporting period. However, further analysis which splits the top 50 firms (£300m+ turnover) and the mid-market 200 reveals it is the region’s medium-sized businesses that are driving growth and prosperity for Yorkshire.

Mid-sized firms are rapidly outperforming their larger peers in all key performance indicators. Turnover, overseas sales and employee numbers are growing faster in the mid-market than they are among Yorkshire's biggest businesses.

Turnover has grown by 13.2% for mid-sized firms (compared to 5.2% for the largest 50 companies); employment levels are up 11.6% (compared to 2.8%) and overseas sales have rocketed by 19.3% (compared to just 3.6% in large firms).

Rotherham firms making onto the list include manufacturers, AESSEAL, AMG Superalloys UK Limited (formerly LSM), Exol Lubricants, ABS Industrial Resources Ltd, Jeld-Wen UK Ltd, New York Bakery Company Ltd, Schaeffler Automotive Aftermarket (UK) Ltd and Esco Emea Holdings (UK) Limited (the UK branch of Esco that purchased Hydra Mining Tools). Also in the top 250 are nursing home operator, Falcon Capital Investments Limited; the construction group, Horbury; electronics retailer, Maplin; growing national recruiter, Nicholas Associates; and SVM Europe, a leader in the gift card industry.

Terry Jones, partner and head of BDO LLP in Yorkshire, said: "Yorkshire firms have recovered well and are growing strongly, with cash in the bank, employment and overseas sales all on the up. But what's really clear is how important the mid-market is to our regional economy and future prosperity.

"Medium-sized businesses – our newly named "Brittelstand" - are the real drivers of growth in our region. With continued investment, ambitious growth strategies and the right government support, they will fast become the big businesses of tomorrow."

The backbone of Yorkshire's economy remains strong, with manufacturers accounting for 72 of the top 250 companies. The region's manufacturers saw profits before tax jump 38% to more than £1bn in the reporting period. The sector also accounts for more than half (£4.9bn) of the total overseas sales made by the 250 companies.

The retail sector continues to be the largest contributor to revenues (£44.3bn), however profits have plummeted following another tough year for food retailers Asda and Morrisons which account for more than 90% of the sector's revenues. Manufacturing was the second biggest contributor with revenues at £12.4bn, followed by the food and drink sector which recorded a 22% jump to £11.3bn.

BDO website

Images: Made Here Now

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News: Rotherham's outstanding companies

Plimsoll Publishing Ltd, the world's leading provider of market reports and company analysis, has awarded the accolade of "Outstanding Company" to a number of businesses in Rotherham.

Only a handful are awarded following the latest analysis of the published annual accounts relevant to the firms' specific area of business. The award indicates they have improved their overall financial health based on Plimsoll's assessment of their overall performance. At the same time they have achieved solid sales growth.


Leading the way is expanding manufacturing firm, CMD Ltd who were recognised this month. Based at Eastwood, the innovative company has a product range offering underfloor power systems, lighting and power busbars, lighting control systems, together with office power, cable management and ergonomic solutions.

Steve Cole, managing director at CMD Ltd, said: "Building and maintaining an outstanding financial growth takes a lot of hard work across the entire company and it's fantastic to be recognised for this. Plimsoll Publishing is a well-respected, independent body so it's exciting that they've acknowledged CMD's achievements with this award."

Other recognised Rotherham firms include, Roberts Radio, the UK brand leader in the portable radio market that is sold around the world from Japan to USA. The company is based at Swinton alongside Morphy Richards, both of which are owned by the Irish Glen Dimplex Group.

ASD Lighting, the successful family-run firm that specialises in the manufacture of lighting for domestic and commercial installations, is also on the list. The latest financial results for the Barbot Hall company showed that pre-tax profits were £3.7m in the year ending 31 December 2012. Turnover during the year increased to £25.8m from £23.3m in 2011.

Huthwaite International, the world's leading company in behaviour change for salespeople and negotiators, is also recognised by Plimsoll. The Wentworth company is a market leading behaviour change consultancy and specialises in consulting and training on all aspects of sales. It works with major blue chip companies across the world including Rezidor, Dell, Motorola, UPS and Zurich Insurance.

Huthwaite International's revenue from non-UK business grew from £3.8m in 2010/11 to £5.7m in 2012/13 and exports are now 76.6% of Huthwaite's turnover.

Also on the list is Exol Lubricants, the largest independent lubricants company in the UK. Based in the West Midlands, its large blending plant at Northfield has recently expanded. Exol has successfully grown its export business throughout Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, appointing strategic partners in various countries.

Acorn Industrial Services Ltd has also been recognised in the year that it completed a £1.25m investment in new premises in Hellaby. The firm is one of the largest power transmission distributors in the country and supplies bearings, power transmissions and linear systems to a global customer base.

With new premises twice the size of the previous sites combined, and more than capable of housing the company's £4m worth of stock alongside all head office functions, the firm has recently significantly extended its range of power transmission products with the launch of a brand new coupling division.

Plimsoll website
CMD Ltd website
Roberts Radio website
ASD Lighting website
Huthwaite International website
Exol Lubricants website
Acorn Industrial Services website

Images: CMD / ASD Lighting

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