E+R Group

Please introduce yourself and your company

I’m Ben Clements, Managing Director of Emerson and Renwick. My role is to bring together all the different avenues and diverse applications we’ve got within the business.

How many employees do you have and what’s your turnover?

We’ve got 172 employees on the team. We’ve grown through the Covid period and we’re still recruiting at all levels, from apprentices to senior positions.

The turnover of the business is about £30 million. That has varied from around £20 million and up to around £50 million, but broadly £30 million.

What sector is your business in?

We are at the forefront of technology. We sell machinery to all sorts of businesses; some are producing consumer goods like touch screens and solar cells. We also work on next generation products that you might not see for 10 years.

We sell machinery for manufacturers of adhesive tapes, heat exchanges, and batteries. Not forgetting our traditional sector which is wallpaper.

Do you export or operate in different countries?

We almost exclusively export. About 85% of our production goes overseas. It’s been like that for 30 years or more and the destinations are global. We supply all the way from Silicon Valley to China and Japan. We’ve got some really interesting applications in America.

Tell me about the history of your company.

We were founded in Accrington in 1918 by a Mr Emerson and a Mr Renwick. The original site was the near the new Tesco and we moved to the current location in 1954.

The company has always been innovative, developing new products and over the years we’ve diversified.

What different careers can be achieved for young people in your company?

Primarily we focus on engineers and we take on apprentices every year. Many of them have grown with the business. We have apprentices from 20 or 30 years ago in senior positions within the company. We’ve also had apprentices who have been able to travel the world installing machines in different countries.

Young people who come to us can learn software development, how to design new techniques and machines, and development of new processors.

There’s a high level of interest and variety here.

What jobs are currently available?

We’re looking for apprentices in our manufacturing facility, our machines shop and our assembly area. That’s where there’s an immediate need, but we would look to help them grow through attending college courses and we’ve got a strong history of doing that.

We’ve helped many of our apprentices through college and university degrees too. We’ve got some really talented people that way.

How do people apply?

If anyone is interested in finding more information and perhaps applying to us, the primary route is through our website.

People can look at our careers page for more details. You can get in touch via the form on our contact us page, or email our Human Resources department directly HR@eandr.com