A one-off job 15 years ago has turned into a major stream of business for Lincolnshire-based Channing Engineering, which employs eight people at its workshop in the village of Pinchbeck, near Spalding.

Run by Colin Channing, the company makes parts that are used by fish-farming businesses in Norway, the Faroe Islands and Canada; and with more than half of its products now exported and business continuing to grow, the company bought a new Bridgeport Hardinge GX710S three-axis vertical machining centre (www.channingengineering.co.uk).

Supplied by the Engineering Technology Group (ETG — www.engtechgroup.com), it replaced one of Channing’s existing Bridgeport machining centres.

Mr Channing said: “The previous machine was particularly reliable, so it made sense to get another Bridgeport.

“It has been a while since we have had to replace a machine; it was also the first time we have worked with ETG.

“However, everything went very smoothly; and when any issues did occur, we received a rapid response.

“We are very busy at the moment, with most of our work involving short runs of a few dozen parts at time — and one-off prototypes; and while we cover a wide range of industries, including motor-sport, fish-farming equipment is still the biggest single source of work for us, accounting for around 60% of our workload.”

ETG regional sales manager Jon Mannion said: “The GX710S comes with Siemens’ ShopMill software and has a small footprint.

“Other details that attracted Mr Channing to this particular machine were its 12,000rev/min direct-drive spindle, a side-arm 20-tool ATC and a chip conveyor.

“Moreover, we were able to get it delivered very quickly — a bonus, as Channing Engineering needed it operating as soon as possible.”