Memorial vases in big demand as aluminium spinning company diversifies

Birmingham-based aluminium spinning company, Cliveland Spinning, has found its memorial vases are in high demand. The company is using support received from SME funder Ultimate Finance, to outperform overseas competitors.

With 50 years of personnel experience, Cliveland Spinning is a leading manufacturer of quality spun components with an emphasis on high precision reflectors and all forms of lighting products.

However cheaper imports were beginning to affect the business so it decided to diversify by producing aluminium planters and grave vases.

To help fund the rapidly increasing demand for the new products, Ultimate Finance has provided Cliveland Spinning with a £70,000 invoice finance facility, enabling invoices issued to customers to be paid immediately so that capital can be released to buy additional stocks of aluminium to meet demand.

Cliveland Spinning’s contracts with a number of key distributors of memorial products now represent 25 percent of the business’ turnover.

Managing director of Cliveland Spinning, Andrew Sale, who started the business ten years ago, is delighted with the demand for the new products.

“The competition to British manufacturing from China and, more recently, India has been well documented,” he said. “We therefore needed to put provisions in place and look at different products we could create using our existing machinery and skills.

“Initially we created aluminium planters in a range of attractive colours. This idea then extended into monumental vases which are weatherproof, less expensive to manufacture than stone, and lighter to transport.

“Demand has been high since the day we introduced them, which put quite a strain on the cash flow, as we needed to buy increasing amounts of aluminium but we were having to wait up to 90 days to be paid by our customers.

“Ultimate Finance was quick to see the potential and grant us an increased facility to help us meet demand.”

Lesley Mouncher of Ultimate Finance was pleased to help: “As a country we need to support British manufacturing against tough competition from overseas,” she said.

“Cliveland Spinning is a great example of forward thinking and innovation that has resulted in a product extension which has dramatically increased turnover and reduced its total reliance on lighting products.”