Celebrating 25 years and a move to Derby
Bennett Engineering are proud to be celebrating 25 years in business at the end of November 2024. Lots has been happening this year with new majority shareholders in place, a new director added to the board and a move to Derby which has changed the scope of services the company can offer.
Celebrating 25 years in business
John Bennett founded the business in 1999; as a sole trader he offered his skill set to a range of business in the East Midlands who needed a time served and highly competent project engineer. In fact some of the customers John started the business with still consult the Bennett Engineering team today with their projects, challenges and Capex requirements.
Over the years John adapted his offering and came up with the business title ‘Bennett Engineering Design Solutions Limited’ which has been trading to offer virtual design engineering services.
Craig Harbron joined the business in 2012 as a qualified mechanical design engineer; he bought a new dimension to the business and enabled the ability to provide an outsourced department structure to OEMs and manufacturers across the country.
The business has expanded significantly, at one point there were 7 design engineers within the team as well as other support staff, and contracted during COVID to ensure the continuity of the business for the owners John and Craig.
Celebrating 25 years in business is always a good idea but even more so when the journey has been interesting and there is a next phase to the business which is exactly where Bennett Engineering are today.
New ownership
In April 2024 John sold his majority stake to Seleena Creedon and Craig, reducing his share holding to 20%. “It was time to hand the reins over to the next generation and it was with immense pride that I could do this with two people who I know are competent, capable and want to continue to grow the business. Both Craig and Seleena have a real drive to deliver the absolute best in engineering, business and people related things. Craig is the most competent design engineers I have ever worked with whilst Seleena is one of the best people handlers I have come across. Their strength together is immense and I am excited to see what they will achieve.”
New Derby base
Bennett Engineering have operated from Loughborough and called the Technical Centre home for many years. Within the centre they had an office which limited some services or abilities to deliver some projects from start to finish. With Craig and Seleena both living in Derby the search started for a new base in their home city; however, Ivygrove’s agent had a surprise up their sleeve after several office viewings. “It has always been in our long-term plan to have an industrial unit so when Seleena was not quite liking the offices enough to commit to a tenancy I jokingly said to Will – show her an industrial unit and she’ll probably sign on the dotted line straight away. He replied with a ‘well actually’ and took us to Unit 5 Parcel Terrace which was clearly a perfect home for us” Craig said.
Celebrating 2024, a year of achievement and transition
With an industrial unit at their disposal Bennett Engineering have extended our service offering, whilst they have always offered a managed manufacturing service, and will continue to do so, the business is looking to offer manufacturing on a one-off basis for bespoke designs they have undertaken or as a partner for existing products or designs. With our long term relationships with a range of manufacturers in the East Midlands, many of whom as Derbyshire based, the team at Bennett Engineering can offer peace of mind in the quality of manufacturing. Unit 5 has enabled them to provide commissioning of bespoke machinery, and assembly services to businesses who are needing to outsource that element of their business.
So far this year Bennett Engineering have opened their doors on National Manufacturing Day to a group of post 16 students at St Andrew’s which is a SEND school to complete a few tasks. They have also invited a select number of guests to attend their open day which was well attended and brought a really positive vibe to Unit 5!
“One of the things I say is that Unit 5 is the place to come to if you need solutions; I have spoken to businesses who simply can’t ‘buy off the shelf’ machinery or equipment to solve their very real challenges in processing and manufacturing. I have also spoken to businesses with aging staff and those needing to restructure who need the support of experienced engineers that my colleagues are and the industrial workshop space to complete the assembly and build of their products. It’s brilliant to have the space to offer them at Unit 5 and the knowledge to help them. I am a big believer in the more we collaborate the more successful we will be as SMEs” says Seleena.
The team are looking forward to a successful 2025 offering mechanical design engineering, manufacturing, build, assembly and commissioning services to exiting clients and new ones they are yet to work with.
PR stories featured across the East Midlands:
Engineering firm marks 25 years with Derby move and new leadership | TheBusinessDesk.com