A little history of the company
Broadbent was founded in 1864 providing engineering services to the local textile industry across the north of England. During its early years the company built a diverse range of products including steam engines, cars and large overhead travelling cranes.
In the late 1800s Broadbent concentrated on designing and manufacturing centrifuges, and by the early 1900s the range of centrifuges had expanded to include the sugar industry and emerging global chemical industries.
Centrifuges and solid-liquid separation equipment remain the prime products of Broadbent in the 21st century.
The visit
Unfortunately I was I think the last one to arrive and was pleasantly surprised to see the number of people who had made the effort to turn up. Well done to all. We hope to see you more often.
We were greeted by a very nicely informal gentleman who gave a brief talk about the company before splitting us into 2 groups for the factory viewing. With 23 visitors this was a must.
For me and many others it was like taking a trip back in time, a trip that brought a smile to many a face. Once inside the factory we found the shop floor had hardly changed since its initial building. The layout was one that must have been used commonly throughout Yorkshire. Even the wonderful wood panelled offices could be seen on the balconies.
Manual machining was still largely used and preferred, though there were CNC machines to be seen. Because of the size of components these were much larger than you would see in the average workshop.
Welding plays a very big role in the manufacturing of Broadbent’s components, yet from what I could see, this was once again done by hand. Welders get your CV sent in!
Looking overhead at the cranes you could clearly see the company name on them, only to be told that they were made in house. In fact it turned out that they made most of the components parts in house. You had to see the diversity of these components to fully appreciate this.
All in all this was a visit of historical engineering background, great diversity, company commitment and a will to survive. A Yorkshire company to be proud of.
For those of you who couldn’t make it, ya mist a gud un!
Andrew Kibler
Vice-President
Some Photographs taken by Andrew during the tour of the factory
