INNOVATION and skills are the twin keys to surviving the economic gloom.
That has certainly proved the case for two Huddersfield firms who have used both to cement new jobs and a more stable future.
Both Bradley-based textile firm C&J Antich and Lockwood-based engineers David Brown are part of a drive to harness traditional skills to create new products and new markets.
They are among a number of UK firms to benefit from new Government funding for 12 projects which it is hoped will attract private investment, create new jobs and protect existing ones.
Antich will use all its textile skills in a remarkable project which will see it involved in making car components.
And for Browns the ambition is equally far-sighted with aims to position the UK as the only country in the world to create large gearboxes for the next generation of offshore turbines.
Two companies then from industries which in the past have provided the backbone of the town’s economy and its reputation for skills excellence.
Many might have thought those days long gone but it seems our manufacturers are still in there fighting hard to create new business success built on the skills of their workforce and their commitment to innovation.
