A century after its incorporation as a company, one of Bradford’s best-known manufacturers has moved to a new multi-million-pound headquarters as part of the next stage of its development.
Having started trading in 1850, the company was officially incorporated in November 1921.
A century on, after emerging from the uncertainty caused by the peak of the pandemic, Thorite has hugely ambitious plans for £10m growth over the next five years.
And the purpose-built headquarters and a new click-and-collect webstore are key parts of that proposed growth.
Founded in 1850 as a one-man operation, Thomas Wright, as it was then known, began as a mill furnisher, supplying essential accessories for the textile trade.
It supplied mills such as Listers, Salts, Illingworth Morris, and others, moving into supplying parts for the motor trade in the early 20th century.
Over the last 170 years, Thorite has diversified massively, and now specialises in pneumatics, air compressors and fluid handling equipment, providing a complete compressed air service through the sale of air compressors and components, together with a service department and installation division.
It now has ten regional operations across the UK as well as its new headquarters at Thorite House on Hillam Road, off Canal Road, and its turnover was £19m in 2019.
The new 44,000 sq ft headquarters, which also includes the Bradford sales and service centre, will allow for greater expansion and organisational improvement in working practices and techniques.
It will house £6 million of compressed air and fluid power stock, compressor plant purchase, hire and rental, expert technical advice services, systems design and installation teams and aftersales support services, and the site will also allow specialised training courses to be carried out.
Thorite’s managing director Stephen Wright said of the development: “The new head office represents a multi-million-pound investment in the business and sets Thorite on course for our next stage of development.”
The firm’s old Laisterdyke base had 18,000 sq ft of space spread out over four floors – and the company said this it was “not suitable for a modern distribution business anymore”.
The new headquarters will also be the company’s national distribution centre, sales and service centre, service administration and systems division.
Thorite also launched a new webstore on the back of the 100th anniversary of its incorporation, offering a click-and-collect service for over 30,000 products, including more than 100 brands of pneumatic, compressed air, vacuum, and fluid handling components.
That ethos had proved invaluable during the Coronavirus crisis.
Mr Wright, said the success of Thorite had been underpinned by a strong focus on customer service and aftermarket support, and this was something that would help drive its plans to achieve £10 million growth over the next five years.
“We worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to ensure our customers received the products and support they required,” said Mr Wright.
“That experience gave us valuable insight into the ways customers interact with the company and inspired us to develop a webstore which is easier, faster and more intuitive.”
Thorite’s work during the to maintain its support for customers during the lockdowns meant it held sales figures at pre-Covid levels.
“Thorite’s resilience and responsiveness has helped the company reach its milestone 100 years of incorporation and complete more than 170 years of successful operations,”, he said.
“I’m confident that this and our customer-focused approach will help us achieve our five-year growth plan.”
A spokesperson for the company said the new e-commerce platform would simplify the shopping experience with Thorite and play a big part in its continued growth.
“Easier, faster, more intuitive – That is the mantra we have worked towards, and it shows. If COVID taught us anything it is that the way customers interact with businesses is changing and businesses in turn have to adapt to better serve these new demands. Standing still and being cautious is simply not an option for any progressive company,” the spokesperson said.
“It’s not just externally that we are changing; Internally, we have celebrated a centenary of incorporation with our Mission, Vision, Values initiative. By defining the values by which we operate, we cultivate an ethos that has served us during three separate centuries and will continue to promote an innovative and progressive culture for years to come.”
Timeline:
1850: Thorite was founded in the cutting textile works in Bower Street, Bradford, in 1850, known as Thomas Wright, and supplied various essential accessories to the thriving textile trade.
1870s: It is thought that during the latter part of the 1870s Thomas Wright joined the building boom and built a purpose-designed property between Manchester Road and Little Horton Lane in Bower Street. By this time, it had established a regular client base in the textile industries and continued to grow their portfolio of accessories.
1900s: By the turn of the century, Bradford had risen to international prominence as the world’s textile and woollen capital. During this time, the third generation Thomas Wright saw an opportunity to venture into the local automobile industry which at the time was thriving thanks to new industry growth.
7th November 1921: Thomas Wright was Incorporated.
1930s: By the 30s, Wrights were calling themselves “Mill Furnishers and Motor Factors”. It had become a major stockist to the motor trade carrying a full range of spares, including crown wheels and pinions, exhaust systems, suspension springs, pistons and many more items.
1950s: the company had expanded its Bower Street premises and undergone substantial renovations to transform it into an equipment showroom and workshop. New air compressor outfits were hard to come by at the time, so the company began assembling them at the new workshop facility under the now-familiar group trade name Thorite.
1960s: Over the years Thorite developed a huge advantage over competitors by providing a complete compressed air service through the sale of air compressors and components, together with a service department and installation division. The company further expanded into the Pneumatics trade and soon found the need to expand by opening a new company in Leeds under the more well-known name “Thorite Pneumatics Ltd”. Thorite at this point consisted of a very experienced and knowledgeable workforce of over 44 employees dedicated to the distribution of compressed air products, with Thomas “Teddy” Wright, the 5th generation of the Wrights heading the business until his retirement in 2000.
1970s: In the 1970s, Thorite Joined the digital age with their first computer. The system consisted of a filing cabinet that housed the processor and a 1.6 Megabyte disc, as well as a keyboard, a dot matrix printer, and a single line LCD display. Thorite had a product range of over 3000 items at the time, which had to be manually entered into the new digital system.
The ’70s also saw Thorite open its very own computer store, Comprite, along with the Bradford HQ branch move into the Laisterdyke premises as well as the opening of another two branches in Huddersfield and Doncaster.
1980s: Thorite began organising their own “Air Power Exhibition” that proved to be a great success and became a regular event over the next ten years. These events were a great opportunity for suppliers to showcase their new innovative product ranges. During this time the Sheffield, Rochdale and Bolton branches opened. At this point, Thorite consists of 6 sales and service centres.
1990s: As a company, it was clear that Thorite had a wealth of valuable expertise that they had accumulated over the years. It was here where Thorite Academy first came into fruition.
Thorite then began offering Pneumatics courses to industry professionals. The ’90s also saw the opening of the Hull, Blackburn, and Middlesbrough branches. At this point, Thorite consists of 9 sales and service centres and maintains its place as the UK’s leading supplier of air compressors, air tools, pneumatics, and process products.
2000s: The Thorite name, derived from Thomas Wright (THOmas wRIghTE), and has become a global brand name for the company, synonymous with anything powered by compressed air, including air tools, spray guns, pneumatics, and even air-driven pumping equipment. In 2000 it merged into Thomas Wright/Thorite Group Limited, followed by adopting Thorite as our trading name throughout the group in 2002. By 2017 Thorite had opened the Brierley Hill and Bristol Branches.
2021: Thorite celebrated 100 years as a Limited Company by launching a new website and opening new state-of-the-art headquarters to usher in a new era.
