Open 2
Product design consultancy Open 2 is making an impact across the globe.
The company, based at the 3M Buckley Innovation Centre in Huddersfield, was launched by creative director Matt Burtonwood following his return from internships with Philips Design in the Netherlands and Astra Studios in San Francisco. Living in Silicon Valley at the height of the dotcom boom, he worked with clients including Nike, Motorola, HP, Compaq and MTV.
Matt said the goal was to bring some of these clients back to Huddersfield and to get involved in product development from concept design through to design development and mechanical engineering.
Said Matt: “As a consultancy, we can work in many markets at the same time. We work in many fields, including power tools, white goods, toys. mechanical devices and packaging to name a few.
“Since 2001, we have travelled the world wherever the work has taken us. In 2015 alone, we have worked with clients in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Thailand, Finland, Brazil and the USA. We’ve earned a lot of air miles this year!”
Open 2 is set to double its operating profits this year. “We started the year developing vacuum cleaners with Philips Design in the Netherlands and toys with Fisher Price in New York,” said Matt.
“Since then, we have worked in Lausanne Switzerland with a luxury coffee brand and Hello Kitty’s parent company Sanrio in the US and Japan. We have just finished a period of product testing in Thailand and we recently returned from the San Diego Comic Con where we launched a new Thomas the Tank Engine toy line. In the last month, we started working with a Finnish timber company to help them develop their product range and create new product ideas.”
Bespoke Stairlifts Ltd
They’re going up in the world.
Bespoke Stairlifts Ltd, based at Old Fieldhouse Lane Industrial Estate in Huddersfield, was founded in 2004 by business partners Dave Burns and Gavin Finn, who have a combined 20 years of industry knowledge.
The company set out to create cost-effective and low-budget stairlifts for customers with curved or complicated staircases.
Today, it has 38 employees, including more than 20 qualified staff based in Huddersfield and has access to a network of almost 100 stairlift engineers UK-wide.
The company supplies trade customers with a range of economical and versatile products as well as survey and installation services. It also distributes direct to the end-user.
Bespoke Stairlifts, which has enjoyed consistent growth over the past 10 years, has also invested more than £1m in developing a new stairlift – the Infinity Stairlift – which forms part of a project to create its own product range.
The company has also increased its factory floorspace by 7,000sq ft by adding another unit to accommodate the newly-bought machinery needed. The firm recently recruited three new staff and expects to add another nine by 2016-17.
Exports make up about half of the firm’s business – with Bespoke Stairlifts selling into Europe, South America, China, Chile, Guatemala, India and Costa Rica via distributors.
Anke Chapman, head of global sales, said the company aimed to sell direct once it was in a position to offer a worldwide service.
Bespoke also had new business partnerships planned for Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland.
Briton Engineering Developments Ltd
There’s no business like snow business for ski slope specialist Briton Engineering Developments Ltd.
The company, based at Scholes, Holmfirth, was established in 1979 to work in the snow sports industry manufacturing ski lifts as well as working in other mainstream industries.
In 1989, the firm was heavily involved in the construction of a new ski resort at Ben Nevis and in 1993 it began developing its synthetic Snowflex ski slope surface.
Its efforts were rewarded in 1990 with a contract for the 6,000sq metres Søhøjlandet Snowsports centre in Denmark, which included the creation of features such as moguls, jumps and a half pipe previously seen only on mountain snow.
For the past 20 years, Briton has been exclusively involved in designing and building all-season snow sport facilities for venues including theme parks and water parks, summer and winter tourist resorts, shopping complexes and fitness centres.
Snowflex has been installed in a variety of locations across the world, including Noeux Les Mines in France, Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA and Altinoran in Ankara, Turkey.
Business development director Terry Di Stasi said the Turkish contract saw Briton build the world’s largest synthetic ski slope to date The 10,700sq metres slope is the anchor attraction for a major development comprising apartments and a leisure facility that includes a cable car system, wall climbing, ice rink, gardens, shops and restaurants. The project was completed and handed over to the client in August.
Last year, Briton completed a “significant” slope for the YMCA in The Rockies, Colorado. “It was like taking coals to Newcastle,” said Mr Di Stasi. “The success of this facility meant the client had covered its construction and development costs within 12 weeks of opening.”
