Autumn 2023Hanson Springs celebrates 60 years

Hanson Springs celebrates 60 years’ business in 2023 as one of the world’s largest independent spring manufacturers.

Hanson Springs was founded in 1963 by Malcolm Hanson when Rochdale was one of the centres of the UK spring-making industry. Back then, there were around 30 spring companies in Rochdale alone.

Today Hanson Springs is one of the largest independent valve spring manufacturers in the world, working extensively with the oil, gas, nuclear, power generation and railway industries.

Hanson Springs employs 230 people and is on track to a hit turnover of £32m in 2022/23.

Around 85% of everything made by Hanson goes to export, including the US, where the company has a US distribution warehouse in Dallas. Its headquarters remain based in Rochdale on Gorrels Way, and there is also a second local site on Mellor Street.

Malcolm remains managing director of the flourishing family-run business, joined by his children – John Hanson, who is the finance director, and Lisa Jenkinson, who is the strategic purchasing director.

John said: “We started out making springs for the textile industry but moved into general engineering.

“By the mid-1970s we’d focused on the oil and gas and power generation sectors, which today accounts for 95 per cent of what we do, producing around 15 tonnes of springs each day.”

Lisa’s children, Luke Jenkinson, 23, and Ellie Jenkinson, 20, along with John’s daughter, Amy Hanson, 19, have all joined the Rochdale manufacturer in recent years.

Lisa said: “We’re proud to be a family business. We’re delighted that Luke, Ellie and Amy have joined but lots of staff also have relatives in the business and that family feel is one of the reasons for our longevity and success.”

John added: “We have a very loyal workforce. We find when people have worked for us for five years, they tend to stay for 30-40 years.”

In the last 10 years, the company has invested around £15m in upgrading the plant and machinery facilities at its Gorrels Way site.

Improvements included the installation of a second £750,000 automated hot coil production line in 2021, enabling the company to boost its capacity by nearly 50%.

The new production line was described by John as “the missing piece of the jigsaw," allowing Hanson to create larger springs weighing between 30kg and 100kg, broadening its customer base and helping meet a burgeoning order book.

With two sites in Rochdale, John said the town was the ‘perfect base for a business’. He said: “It’s amazing to think we’re 60 years old. “Other than a few years in Todmorden, we’ve always been based in Rochdale.

“Rochdale is blessed with brilliant connectivity, so we have quick access to the motorway network and Manchester Airport.

“We’re very proud to be 60 years old and playing our part in Rochdale’s booming business sector.”