Accles & Pollock receives Queen’s award for export

Above: Manual welding of a coalesence chamber for the XWB engine.
Courtesy Accles & Pollock

The firm, which was established over 100 years ago and acquired by GFG’s LIBERTY House business in 2015, won the award for growth in exports that doubled over two years to £4.7m in 2018/19. Accles & Pollock specialises in high‐spec components for aerospace engines, nuclear submarines and land‐based power generation.

The increase in exports was a response to key customers such as Rolls‐Royce extending their manufacturing presence across the globe. More than half of Accles and Pollock’s sales now come from overseas markets spanning Singapore, USA, Canada, France and Germany.

Accles & Pollock, which employs 50 people, is a leading manufacturer of rigid and flexible pipes, aerospace ducts and tube coils for high integrity applications across the aerospace, medical, nuclear, scientific, and oil and gas sectors.

Since acquiring Accles & Pollock, LIBERTY’s investment in machinery automation and increasing efficiencies across manufacturing lines has enabled the business to produce complex machined components in‐house and increase its global competitiveness.

Founded in 1896 by gunsmith James George Accles, the business quickly diversified into general engineering, making its first tubular sections for aircraft in 1907. Over the last century, Accles & Pollock has manufactured a diverse variety of metal alloy products, ranging from golf shafts to tubes for the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva.

Phil Begley, managing director of LIBERTY Tubular Solutions, said: “With the increasing globalisation of aerospace manufacturing, global markets will continue to be a critical source of revenue for Accles & Pollock over the coming years.

“We are proud to have a played our part in the 45% growth of overall UK aerospace product exports since 2010 and hope to expand our overseas presence in the future with our own low‐cost manufacturing hubs in countries such as India.

Sanjeev Gupta, Chairman of the GFG Alliance said: “I’m delighted that Accles & Pollock has been recognised in the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise for its success in growing exports over recent years.

"At the heart of the GFG Alliance’s strategy is the renewal and revival of long‐established industrial businesses. Accles & Pollock’s success is an example of what can be achieved through an injection of dynamism and entrepreneurship. I’m proud that its components can be found in engines around the world.”