FERNDOWN COMPANY WINS MAJOR MANUFACTURING AWARD

EEF Future Manufacturing Awards – South West winners announced

Haystack Dryers, a Ferndown manufacturer of full body dryers found at theme parks and swimming pools, has been named among the country’s top companies in this year’s EEF Future Manufacturing Awards. The Dorset-based company has won the EEF South West Region Business Growth Award in recognition of its success in growing its business even during the economic downturn. The annual awards are hosted by EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, and recognise excellence in enterprise, innovation, environmental performance and skills development among UK manufacturers. The company received the accolade at a special award ceremony in Bristol in acknowledgement of the success of its innovative range of full body dryers developed for installation at water parks and theme parks. Haystack’s strong export performance has led to growth in sales across Europe and in the US, where the company opened a new office and succeeded in attracting customers such as Universal Studios and SeaWorld. Chair of the judging panel, Professor Steve Evans, Professor of Life Cycle Engineering at Cranfield University, said the company was an exemplar for the region in driving business success. “This is just the sort of business that British industry needs,” he said. “This is an inspiring story of a company succeeding through innovative product design and focused marketing, which has resulted in a doubling of turnover and a significant increase in profitability.” Terry Slater, South West Region Director for EEF, commented: “Manufacturing in the South West is increasingly important as an economic driver for the UK. Innovative companies such as Haystack Dryers demonstrate that well-run manufacturing businesses have a very bright future and are critical to the long term economic success of the region and of the country as a whole.” The regional winners will compete in the national finals, the winners of which will be announced on 27 January at a ceremony at Merchant Taylor’s Great Hall in the City of London. The EEF South West region is a key area for manufacturing in the UK, with 12,000 companies employing more than 220,000 people and contributing around £12.3bn to the economy every year. Photo shows Paul Thomas, MD of Haystack Dryers, receiving the EEF award from Sasha Bowman of category sponsor Westfield Health. Ends About EEF EEF the manufacturers’ organisation is the representative voice of manufacturing in the UK. EEF has a growing membership of almost 6,000 companies of all sizes, employing some 900,000 people from every sector of engineering, manufacturing, engineering construction and technology-based industries. www.eef.org.uk

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