50th anniversary for ‘£60 startup’

qualifications from leaving school, David had learned the trade by working at Cambridge University Engineering Labs. With no prospect of a degree that would have landed a key job at the Department he decided to go it alone.

Brother John had introduced him to a glass blowing company called TW Wingents and he started making gas jets for their blow torches on a small lathe in the summerhouse. That work blossomed and in the meantime John and David launched a flash lamp manufacturing business at Cambridge Science Park –Noblelight.

David sold his stake and decided to strike out on his own. Shearline steadily picked up work from globally successful companies and shifted through the gears in terms of premises before building its own facility in Ely.

The biggest growth factor was a contract with instrumentation giant LKB Biochrom which has remained a customer for more than 45 years. Another catalyst for expansion was the development of the inkjet sector, principally through Domino, Linx and Willett (now Videojet) – all of whom are customers today.

Shearline has consistently invested in state-of-the-art machinery which boosted capability and meant Shearline could handle increasingly large and complex jobs.

David says: “The investment in new machines and the latest technology has been a priority for Shearline and has allowed us to maintain efficiency and quality –both crucially important in global markets. The investment has included one of the largest 5th axis machining centres operating in a subcon environment.”

Shearline continues to expand into new markets. For example, the company has AS9100 accreditation to supply parts for the aerospace and defence industries. Newer markets include robotics, wind turbines, EV technology, medical and electron microscopes.

In 2007 it bought the company HLT allowing Shearline to machine, scribe and cut ceramics materials. In 2010 it then bought the assets of a motor sports company, now known as Shear XL.

Its work includes racing car engines and transmissions and hypercar components. Shearline is also now working closely with a defence customer in the United States machining magnesium components for drones.

David says: “For example, that US company approached us as they were struggling to find a suitable manufacturer that could machine magnesium, due to its flammable properties.”

Shearline is also working closely with an exciting new customer in the development and manufacture of fast charging battery systems, collaborating with a food and drink industry client on an environmentally friendly system with the potential to take off in big volumes.

HLT is partnering with a global manufacturer in the electronics industry and running trials with a view to start manufacturing in production volumes at the start of next year.

Demonstrating its versatility, Shearline is working on a prototype fabricated aesthetic beauty device for a household name company.

There’s no gain without pain though and David – who these days acts in a consultancy capacity – and managing director Jon Littlechild say one of the biggest challenges has been finding suitably skilled staff.

Spurred by government failure to consistently woo enough apprentices into manufacturing industries, Shearline chose to develop its own apprenticeship scheme. This provides high quality apprentices following a four-year programme.

Similarly, being aware of the gender disparity in the engineering sector and how important it is to make sure women are fully represented, Shearline always ensures that women form a key element of the annual apprentice intake. Two of the current apprentice cohort are women.

In terms of the workforce overall, almost a third of the company’s entire staff are women, several of them talented engineers, while a good number are managers right up to the Finance Director role.

Ever mindful of the macroeconomic situation, Shearline senses a further opportunity for growth, as David Littlechild explains: “One of the reasons I believe the future for Shearline is so good is that the recent supply chain problems with China has forced companies to consider reshoring their manufacturing operations.

“Challenges for the future include fluctuating energy prices, which in turn influence many other commodities that Shearline purchases such as materials.

“To partially mitigate this, we have installed over half a megawatt of solar panels which will account for around 25% of our energy usage.

“Shearline has for many years invested in green manufacturing long before environmental consideration was at the forefront of peoples’ minds –recycling materials, installing a combined heat and power unit as well as coolant management systems that reduce oily waste by as much as 75%.”

8 shearline.co.uk

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