Cranes
MEETING WITH WILL STREET, FINANCE DIRECTOR, STREET CRANES LTD
FRIDAY 22 MARCH 2024.
You’ve been past it a dozen times, at the scruffy (southern) end of Chapel en le Frith. You
didn’t notice, as you’re not expecting a highly successful international manufacturing
business with over 150 employees to be in this small Peak District town. But as we’ve
discovered with so many other locally-based companies highlighted at our Business Club, a
lot more is going on round here than sheep and hikers.
Will Street wanted to be a professional cricketer, he told, but when that didn’t happen he
qualified as an accountant and joined the family firm. Now he’s Finance Director. The
business was founded by his grandfather Peter Street, wartime Spitfire pilot, in 1946 with
his £88 demob money. Sheffield-born Peter was an engineer and began by fixing industrial
cranes in the city, then in the 1950s started design and manufacture. They moved to the
Chapel site in 1957, their base ever since.
These are overhead cranes and hoists, the kind mostly used and installed indoors – not the
long-necked construction cranes we see on skylines in London and Manchester. They’re
designed to carry massive weights; once installed they are in place for many years. It’s not a
huge industry as such – the total global production of similar equipment is relatively small. In
the 1950s dozens of similar businesses flourished in the UK, but gradually they failed to
adapt to computerisation and faded away, leaving the innovatory Street as sole British
manufacturer. In the 1980s under the guidance of first Peter then his son Martin the firm
introduced their first exportable hoist, whose essential point was that it was reproduceable.
The company developed a reputation for quality and up-to-date crane technology: “We aim
to provide all of our UK and International customers with lifting equipment and solutions
that surpass all of their expectations in safety, performance and reliability,” says their
website. They export to every continent (“except Antarctica” said Will). But they are up
against some very big rivals.
By far the largest global name is Finland’s KONI, which accounts through subsidiaries for
over 50% of the world’s supply. That hassled Street to thinking hard about how to grow and
exploit gaps in the market. So in 2023 a USA steel supplier with HQ in Charleston was taken
over, and now they manufacture there, where their “Mom and Pop business” image attracts
loyal fans amongst America’s myriad similar operations. In most countries however the
main approach is to work with over 100 distributor partnerships, where the deal is that
Street will not compete with them in their region, but will supply original equipment, know-
how and parts for servicing.
It’s a brilliant asset-light strategy, which means the company has outgrown its capacity more
than once. In 2014 hoist manufacture required a substantial increase in Chapel, now
actually on two adjacent sites. To help with space, it was decided that instead of holding the
kit necessary for assembly including heavy gears and motors, it’s more efficient to rely on
suppliers (that’s the Toyota model of course). Another site in Northampton is in use, while
in Sheffield since 1972 is sister company Street CraneXpress doing servicing, working closely
with key customers such as Rolls-Royce and Severn Trent. Meanwhile customers in Mexico
are keen on Street producing in that jurisdiction, an option that could help with further
growth.
What’s the USP? What can they offer that the big boys can’t? “A small company is flexible,”
Will explained, “We can turn around a proposition or a decision very quickly with only one
or two layers of management. We aren’t necessarily the cheapest, but we can look after our
customers.”
Clearly they face tricky options for the future, some needing hefty investment and all
requiring careful management. A new ERP system is to be introduced (rueful laughter from
some club members on this..!). An “Engineering Requirement Planning” system is a super-
fast efficient IT system with the reputation of being a “business killer” when it’s not well
understood or integrated into an existing set-up. Putting solar panels on the roof to help
with Net Zero, also on the To-do list, will be a doddle by comparison.
Two other key problems loom large, only one of which is within Street’s control. How do
they get their engineers? Answer is, they grow them. It’s long been their practice to recruit
apprentices in large numbers, support and train them well across every aspect of the
business, upskilling and multi-skilling, sending them to university where appropriate, and
promoting to the highest levels within the firm. Street is a good place to work, and to do
business with (“they pay promptly” said one member). That makes Street a “family firm” in
every sense, and perhaps anchors it more firmly in the local environment.
The problem they can’t solve is that many international competitors are heavily subsidised
by their governments whereas British manufacturing is not. This is particularly true of China,
where cheaper labour is also an advantage, so hoists are marketed at much lower prices.
But if Covid and conflict from Ukraine to the Red Sea have taught us anything, it’s that long-
distance chains are vulnerable to disruption at any time. Will commented ruefully that just
as Street were diversifying away from the Chinese for steel castings, sourcing instead from
the far end of Europe in a little-known place called Mariupol, the Russians began to bomb it.
One unexpected hazard has arisen from our local police force, who are insisting that any
large load must be escorted through the county by police officers, even though Street, like
other members of the Road Haulage Association, use trained and certificated escorts. The
bill can add many thousands to delivery costs. Will didn’t call it a racket, but I can; and (like
many of you, at a guess) I’d rather our police be solving burglaries, knife crime and other
challenges, not supplementing their budgets in this way. It’s an on-going row amid other
inflationary pressures, to be resolved as soon as possible, one hopes.
The skills for a successful business are neither novel nor in short supply in Britain, but
industrial manufacturing has become a niche exercise, virtually unknown to those in
government in any party – even when lip service is paid. We were left with admiration for a
remarkable family enterprise, which ought to be the model for growth in the future; and in
Will Street an insightful and fascinating speaker who was much appreciated.