Helipebs Controls are proud winners of the Manufacturing Excellence award from Cotswold Life, a regional publication covering Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Geoff Davis, Managing Director says "the company works hard to be where it is today and it is pleasing to be recognised in this way. We have a great team of people who are dedicated to making the company a success"
Helipebs was founded in 1968 and has had a 45 year strategic partnership with The Sheffer Corporation of Cincinnati Ohio to produce a range of standard hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders. In recent years the company recognised that it could not compete with low cost imports from the far east and therefore has changed direction to concentrate on high value, low volume bespoke products for industries such as subsea oil and gas, aerospace, and formula 1 fatigue testing, pharmaceutical and green energy. During the past 24 months, the directors have authorized record capital investment to help improve efficiency, reduce costs and improve deliveries. The result has been record home and export sales, projected record profits and a full order book for 2014
Due to the complexity of its products and customer requirements, the company is continually having to source different materials and processes that at times can prove difficult and time consuming. It has an established workforce, including five employees who each have over 40 years' service. Over half of the workforce has in excess of 10 years' service. One of the biggest challenges has been to find and retain skilled workers when it needs extra or replacement staff.