International success helps mark 40th birthday

The company, which can create one-offs and ‘specials’ to match its clients’ exact requirements, has celebrated its special anniversary by investing in a new, state-of-the-art laser cutting machine which will help it to continue to design and create bespoke solutions.

Des Phillips, general manager, says: "Not only has the firm seen off two recessions and plenty of downturns and changes in the market, we’ve maintained our commitment to our team and our investment in our plant, our suppliers, and our products, and our strength and success now is absolutely testament to the vision of our directors and the efforts of the entire team.”

First launched in Kent, Contact Attachments chose to move to Mid Wales 35 years ago and believes it was the first engineering firm in the country to achieve BS5750, now known as ISO9001. The company has recently signed up to work towards ISO 14001, as part of a move which it sees as important to its ongoing growth. "We chose to lead the way with the ISO9001 quality standard” explained Des, "because quality is at the heart of everything that we do, and we want to demonstrate the same commitment with ISO14001 as we know how important environmental and sustainability issues are to our customers – now and in the future.”

"We’re rightly proud of all that we’ve achieved over the last 40 years, and our approach is obviously working as many of our first customers still buy from us today, and the average length of service of a member of our team is 16 years. We’re also proud of the investment that we’ve made over the last four decades in developing young engineers, many of whom have gone on to set up and run their own successful engineering companies. Princess Anne came to our site in Newtown in 2001 to recognise our role in the Shared Apprenticeship Scheme, and confessed to taking on some welding herself in the stables.”

"With a new website launching later this summer, planned additions to our product range, plus of course the ongoing work that we’ll be able to do with our new laser-cutting machine, it’s fair to say that we’re very much looking forward to the next 40 years and to seeing the business going from strength to strength” he concluded.