Naylor Industries plc, the family-owned construction materials manufacturer, has hosted a visit by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of South Yorkshire in recognition of its Clayware business winning a Queen’s Award for Enterprise. Professor Dame Hilary Chapman DBE toured the Wombwell manufacturing site with group CEO Edward Naylor and met with employees including long-serving members of staff and new apprentices.
The award in the International Trade category recognised Naylor’s global success, most notably with its innovative high-performance clay pipe products Denlok and Thermachem, which have been delivered to every continent and 65 countries worldwide.
Mr Naylor had earlier attended a Windsor Castle reception for Queen’s Awards winners alongside Princess Anne and Prince Charles.
Mr Naylor said: “We were honoured to receive a visit from the Lord-Lieutenant in recognition of our export growth. Many of our employees have contributed and this prestigious award and special visit are a fantastic recognition of their efforts over many years. As someone who has had a long and distinguished career in nursing, Dame Hilary fully understands the importance of people to the success of any organisation.”
It has been a busy quarter for Naylor Industries, a fourth-generation family business with six manufacturing sites across the UK, including three in the Barnsley area, and more than 400 employees, with the company also receiving external recognition of both its diversity and its health and safety.
The company was highly commended in the corporate category of the Women of the Future Awards for having a culture which recognises and promotes the contribution of female talent. Mr Naylor said: “We are very lucky to have such a talented group of senior women at Naylor and hope this recognition will inspire the next generation of female leaders to join us.”
Naylor also won the British Ceramic Confederation’s Pledge Award of Excellence for overall progress in health and safety. Mr Naylor said: “It has been an extraordinarily challenging two years, but our Environment, Health and Safety director Keren McBratney and her team – including former apprentice Jesse Taylor – have done exceptional work in keeping everyone safe during the pandemic and providing wellbeing support in areas such as mental health.”
“All of these achievements demonstrate the positive culture we have established at Naylor Industries for the benefit of our staff and customers.”
