Autumn 2019Interview with Richard Hagan

Managing Director of Crystal Doors thought to be one of the UK’s greenest entrepreneurs

Based in Rochdale at Transpennine Trading Estate, Crystal Doors employs 30 people and has a turnover of £2million, manufacturing vinyl-wrapped products.

Richard took over the business in 1994, when it employed just 12 people, and has already spent more than £1million on energy-saving technology in the factory including installing solar panels on the roof. He has also announced plans for the company to be carbon neutral by 2030 – 20 years ahead of the UK’s own target and eight years ahead of Greater Manchester’s.

The company has been measuring its carbon footprint for the past four years and is now looking into carbon offset – wanting to plant 11,000 trees to make the company carbon neutral. It also utilises highly advanced robotics and other ‘Industry 4.0’ technologies to gain efficiencies in its production process.

Combined with the energy-saving measures Richard has introduced, the company’s energy bill is now a quarter of what it was seven years ago.

He said: “Working with Manchester’s Business Growth Hub I had an energy audit done of our factory in Rochdale and it identified 16 energy-saving measures I could take. I haven’t looked back since.

“From then, it has been quite a transformational change. Adopting digital technology such as automation within my business allowed us to leapfrog the competition. The efficiencies such processes bring impacted massively on our bottom line, and I would encourage any Greater Manchester manufacturer, from any sector, to explore how business initiatives like Made Smarter North West could change the way they work.

“I supported the launch of the Made Smarter programme with the Growth Company and Chief Executive of Siemens, Juergen Maier, in November 2018. Siemens is a multinational company, but totally committed to making ambitious cost and efficiency savings over the next four years. I thought if a big company like Siemens can do that, then I can do more.

“We are now looking at alternative raw materials and looking at our supply chain for carbon neutral products and alternatives.”

The father-of-two has also made changes at home, including buying a Nissan Leaf electric car so he no longer needs to buy petrol, and cutting back on foreign holidays.

His ambition is to make Rochdale a hub for advanced manufacturing whilst reducing the impact on the environment.

“Business people have to lead and can not leave the job of protecting the environment to the next generation.

“From my point of view as a manufacturer, it is a very exciting time to see the recent investments in Rochdale.

“Rochdale is a town well worth living in. We have got a good commute to Manchester, we have got a lot of very accessible countryside, an improved town centre which is getting better and then the big idea of Rochdale being committed to building 12,000 houses between now and 2038.

“The increase in investment in Rochdale began some years ago and now the momentum has picked up, everybody’s seeing the benefits. It is only going to increase further as we attract more companies to Rochdale, providing jobs in advanced manufacturing.

“We already have Rochdale Sixth Form College and Hopwood Hall that are absolutely outstanding, but now what we need to do is join the dots up, get these students into the best universities and then ready for working in jobs in Rochdale with companies that are doing advanced manufacturing.

“What we need is the level of education where local students can be leaders in the North West, and hopefully in the world, to do research and development into new products.

“I am a big advocate of Industry 4.0, which has revolutionised the manufacturing process through the latest technology.

“I am a Fellow of IN4.0 Group which aims to empower businesses and the education sector with the knowledge and the application of Industry 4.0 technologies. I attend UCLan and Salford University to network with lecturers and I have connections with Manchester University. Local companies struggle to access students with qualifications to be leaders in Industry 4.0, where now the IN4.0 Group is addressing this huge demand.”

He concluded: “I’m a Rochdale Business Ambassador and if we want to safeguard the environment for our children and our children’s children, then we all need to do more.

“My job, now I am on the board of Rochdale Ambassadors, is to speak to all the 200 plus manufacturing companies in Rochdale and form a co-operative. In the next 10 years, I can see Rochdale rising above and becoming the hub for advanced manufacturing, certainly in the North West and definitely within the Greater Manchester region.”