Naylor Celebrates 130th Anniversary

Barnsley-based building material manufacturer Naylor Industries is celebrating its 130th year. The company, which was founded as a clay pipe manufacturer by George Wilfred Naylor in 1890, remains in family hands under CEO Edward Naylor, the fourth generation of the family to head up the business. Naylor was founded in the West Yorkshire village of Denby Dale and retains a Yorkshire focus today, with three of its five factories being in the Barnsley area. More recently, Naylor has acquired manufacturing sites in Fife and the West Midlands. While the company still manufactures clay pipes, recent decades have seen the business diversify, launching a range of plastic and concrete products and carrying out a multi-million pound programme of investment in its manufacturing capabilities. Naylor is an active exporter, having sold its products into 65 international markets. Although the company primarily supplies the construction industry, its Yorkshire Flowerpots business is now the UK’s largest manufacturer of terracotta garden pots. Business turnover exceeds £55m and the company employs some 400 people. Most recently, Naylor has been developing the next generation of the business with an active apprentice programme and a management trainee initiative, involving sponsorship of degree level studies. Edward Naylor, chief executive, said: “We're very proud of our history as very few businesses make it through to the fourth generation. “But we're always very keen to look forward as well as back, and our emphasis on innovation and diversification has been key to growing the business. “We're hoping that this - and the development of apprentices and other young people in the business - provide firm foundations for another 130 years of growth.”