A HAWORTH company is celebrating a milestone.

Family-owned Airedale Springs is marking its 80th anniversary.

The firm was founded on June 7, 1945, by the late Gordon Parkinson.

It began life in Low Street, Keighley, initially manufacturing wire handles for glass accumulators.

The company soon relocated to Royd Mill, in Hebden Road, Oxenhope, and started expanding its product range into a variety of wire forms and spring components.

Growing demand led to the acquisition, in 1957, of a larger factory – in Harry Lane, alongside Oxenhope Station on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

As orders continued to increase, many people were employed as outworkers.

With the appointment of a full management team, the business expanded further into what became known as The Dales Group of Companies, which included additional sites in Rochdale and Keighley.

In the mid-1970s, the company consolidated its operations under the single entity of Airedale Springs Ltd and opened an additional facility at Bridgehouse Mills, Haworth.

For a brief period in the mid-80s, three generations of the Parkinson family ran the business together, until the death of its founder in 1986. Two years later the entire workforce, then numbering 100, was brought under one roof at a new 50,000sqft factory, at Ebor Mills, Haworth.

The following decades saw the firm continue to thrive, and embrace latest technology.

Airedale Springs faced the biggest challenge in its history in 2010 when the Ebor Mills factory was destroyed in a huge blaze.

What remained of the building had to be demolished, but management and employees rallied round and with support from partners, the company moved into a new 18,000sqft facility – The Spring Works – in Haworth, in 2012.

Since then Airedale Springs’ growth has continued, and its ‘green’ credentials have been strengthened through investment in solar energy and efficient production systems.

Today, managing director Sean Parkinson – grandson of the founder – is the third-generation family member to lead the company. His brother, Tim, is chair and their father, Michael – who retired in 2000 – continues to provide support as a non-executive director.

Sean says: “Airedale Springs has always been about more than just products – we’re about people, resilience and doing things the right way.

“We’re proud to honour our past, but even more excited about the future. Our thanks go out to every employee, customer and supporter who has helped us reach this remarkable milestone.”