Storth Limited
Storth Machinery are the leading manufacturer of manure slurry handling equipment in the UK. Established in 1999 Chris Richardson and Alan Looker the founding directors have used their extensive knowledge of the market to grow the business into what is today a worldwide brand exporting to over 30 countries. Based on the outskirts of Holme village on the Cumbria – Lancashire border Storth are central to the UK market and benefit from key infrastructure links such as the M6 motorway and Heysham ferry terminal.
Company details
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- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Agriculture
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
This company also provides solutions for other industrial applications.
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About Us
We pride ourselves in manufacturing a comprehensive range of robust and reliable slurry handling machinery. To enable us to do this nothing is taken for granted, we conduct our own in-house research, design, testing and manufacturing ensuring products are tailored to meeting the changing needs of the market. Our product range consists of over a 100 different machines with multiple options enabling us to find a product to suit even the most unique of situations. Our objective is to give complete coverage of the slurry cycle from farm yard to field.
There are many factors which set Storth apart from the competition but the key to our success has been the focus on professional after sales support. We employ a fully trained and highly skilled team of technicians, dealers and importers who provide our customers with local support. A large parts resource supports this infrastructure and enables us to react quickly and effectively.
History
The Story
The two founders of Storth Ltd a well-recognised slurry management company are Chris Richardson and Alan Looker both of which had no choice in 1999 to set up a new business to enable them to continue working in this industry as their previous employer Malgar went into administration.
Alan had worked with Malgar for 25years gaining a wealth of knowledge & experience, ranging from fabrication, installation, parts and service and becoming a departmental Manager. Chris who was with Malgar 11 years and worked on the installation & service sector, both of them had gained great experience on the farming industry, and the installation and servicing of the equipment.
Having bought their first van for Chris to commence servicing the equipment Alan started fabricating parts for the automatic scraper systems in a small shed in Alan’s dads back Yard, soon it was apparent that the service side needed more help, within the first six months they employed an experienced work colleague who again also had 20 years’ experience in the installation and service side of scraper systems, they then had two service vans to keep customers happy as service is a key factor with automatic scrapers soon customers were asking if they could make a full hydraulic scraper system as they had all the knowledge of what a system needs to be on the farm and what the farmer wanted, Alan started to design the full hydraulic scraper system in the small workshop, this was installed locally, modified and developed to provide the system Storth sells today. Feedback from the farmers are an important factor into developing existing & new products as this helps to continually improve products and services. Research & development of the scraper sector continued and the introduction of automatic scrapers, pro rope scrapers and chain Scraper Systems were added to the range.
Chris soon identified their scraper system was unique to the market place as they had developed a scraper system with no ram box which none of their competitors had at that time. Chris then travelled all over the UK promoting the unique scraper system and developing business relationships and increasing the customer base. Demand was fantastic and an additional personnel were employed for the workshop, after two years Storth had a request to manufacture a Lagoon Mixer which proved a great success as they built it much stronger than what was on the market.
In 2003 both products were taken to the Royal Show and the Royal Welsh show, the outcome was extremely positive and had a great response to the British manufactured products. In 2004 they purchased some land and built a new workshop 75ft x 40ft this allowed more space as the demand from the farming sector for additional products to assist with slurry management, the development of pump products to the range grew in interest. Alan had designed a Pump which was well received and demand grew from strength to strength, an expansion to the workshop was required as space was running out. An extension was built to the workshop, doubling in size to 150ft x40ft, and the staff numbers also increased to 12 by 2005.
The company was moving forward and this was a result of Chris and Alan’s hard work 7days a week and 14hrs days became a regular occurrence. The company continued developing and improving products which we see today, with over 20 products on the market there is now three workshops and a staff of 48 FTE we also attend over 25 shows/exhibitions per year in the UK and abroad. Our sales team has grown from just Chris to an additional six personnel providing Global coverage, all having experience & knowledge of the farming industry, enabling them to provide excellent support and advice to the farmers, network of dealers and AD plant managers regarding waste management solutions.
Over the last three years Storth commenced exporting their quality products to various countries including New Zealand & Canada. Chris the Sales Director sees great potential in the export market, however never losing focus on the UK market, providing quality products supported by great customer service, as this is the biggest and most important market place for Storth as they would have not been here without the support of the UK farmers, and the need for the British farmer to stay loyal to the British manufacturers or stories like ours would disappear.
The experience and the flexibility in our quality manufacturing processes enables us to meet the demands of today’s modern Farmers & Contractors alike. Storth strive to continually develop their waste management systems which include a range of products suitable to the industrial, water and Anaerobic Digestion market sectors.