Left to right: Janette Tierney (Swift & Whitmore) with Steve Dunn (Business Growth West Midlands in Dudley)Swift & Whitmore, the UK’s last remaining manufacturer of resin-bonded abrasives is looking to boost its export sales and ‘green’ its performance after securing nearly £10,000 of grants. The company, which supplies more than 200 different abrasive products to customers in aerospace, automotive, oil and gas and heavy engineering, has tapped into support from
Business Growth West Midlands (BGWM) in Dudley to help target £8 million sales and decarbonise its operations.
The company has just completed installing energy efficiency lighting throughout its Halesowen headquarters thanks to financial support from Dudley Council’s DNZ programme. Additionally, the local authority has also issued a near £7,500 productivity grant to assist with upgrading its stores and logistics department.
This funding, part of a larger £50,000 investment drive, has been spent on the purchase of a
Greenpower Eco electric forklift truck that has a far longer range and is easier to charge.
Janette Tierney, Swift & Whitmore managing director, said: “BGWM in Dudley has been a fantastic source of advice, guidance and financial support and has put us in a strong position to defy economic uncertainty and increase sales in 2025. The installation of the new lighting and a forklift truck will help us become more sustainable in our processes and, importantly, will also deliver cost savings in the long-term. We are now planning to take another person on in logistics, which will take our total workforce in the Black Country and our Chesterfield manufacturing operation to 50.”
Swift & Whitmore’s industrial reach spans pretty much every industry and product imaginable, with its grinders, hot pressed wheels, diamond grinding wheels and coated abrasives used by customers in the UK and worldwide. As well as being the only domestic manufacturer of resin-bonded grinding wheels, the firm is also an independent supplier of other world-leading brands, meaning it can turn orders around within a matter of weeks.
Enhanced operationsMs Tierney continued: “The support from BGWM started with an energy audit by specialists
Pro Enviro and this identified several areas where we could reduce our energy consumption while also improving our operations in Halesowen. We then worked with business growth adviser Steve Dunn on how we make some of these happen and he talked us through the grants available and what we needed to do to get them. This would have been a fairly difficult process, but he made it so easy, helping with cashflow forecasts and our carbon calculations.
“I could not recommend the service highly enough. It has helped us bring forward two projects by about six months and, importantly, we are now tapping into export advice to look at where we can build our international presence.”
BGWM, which is funded by Dudley Council via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, is supporting more than 600 companies based in the borough with advice provided by local business growth advisers. Run by
Oxford Innovation Advice, the initiative delivers an information, diagnostic, brokerage, and account management service to support local businesses to thrive, innovate, and grow, while also supporting entrepreneurs to progress their business ideas. A special focus is placed on helping firms in key local sectors and engaging with harder to reach groups, such as women-led and ethnic minority-led businesses.
Steve Dunn, business growth adviser, concluded: “Swift & Whitmore is a national manufacturing treasure, and I am delighted that BGWM in Dudley has been able to help it unlock environmental improvements and set it up for new jobs and growth in 2025. A recent
Made in Dudley, Sold to the World event was a great taste of the export opportunities available to Janette and the team and we are now talking with the international trade team at the Department for Business and Trade and the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Supply Chain Transition Programme to make some of them happen.”