(L-R: James Annan – Brake Press Operator, Lord Mayor of Leeds, Alison Harling – Production Manager)
The Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Graham Latty, visited PLAND STAINLESS LTD today to mark the start of their Centenary celebrations. The Lord Mayor toured the factory watching each process of a Stainless Steel Hospital Sink being made, a volume product for the company who has been supplying the NHS since the early 1950’s.
He also presented some long service awards and met all the staff in a luncheon to celebrate the event. Pland Stainless has been manufacturing from the same site in Leeds on the Lower Wortley Ring Road since December 1919, a true British manufacturer that has stood the test of time.
The visit also saw three long service awards being presented to members of staff. David Spencer, Production Operator, has been with the business for 36 years and John Stephenson, Sheet Metal Worker and Jack Priestley, Welder, have both hit 10 years service. Each were awarded a bottle of champagne, those with 10 years service received an additional two days holiday this year and David was awarded a voucher for a steak night at Leeds restaurant Miller & Carter.
The company has more exciting plans to reveal during the year that will continue the celebrations in this momentous year. As one would expect with such a long trading history the business has changed and flexed to chase emerging markets over the years. When formed in 1919 it was called the Taylor File & Tool Company and in 1926 changed its name to Taylor Rustless Fittings in line with a change to produce stainless steel butchers’ fittings. It was in 1936 that they became the Stainless Steel Sink Company Limited (Trademark PLAND), the first to manufacture stainless steel sinks in the UK for both the Catering and Domestic markets. In 1993 it became part of The Spring Ram Corporation and as this group moved its domestic stainless steel sink production to Malta, here in the UK, Pland evolved to become a key commercial supplier. In the year 2000, Pland became independent again from any group ownership and in 2008 the management team, led by current MD Steve Duree and Operations Director, Ian Hodgson, acquired the business. Throughout the years and despite different ownership, the business has continued to employ and train skilled engineering personnel (some multi-generations) to manufacture robust and well engineering products that are prevalent in many UK buildings today. In fact they claim that their most important asset by far is their workforce, most of whom are time-served craftsmen who have learnt their trade through years of service with Pland. They have been committed to offering an apprenticeship scheme too since 2014, to continue to train skilled workers for their business. Pland products today are largely designed for the healthcare, sanitaryware, washrooms, laboratory, education, catering, janitorial and the secure accommodation market places. But a growing and significant proportion of their business is made up of bespoke products where their technical team, work with the client to design stainless steel products that deliver specific solutions, using their in-house CAD/CAM and 3D modeling technology.
