| East Coast Casting
Company began trading in 1969, from premises in Melton
Constable, Norfolk, producing sand castings in
various non-ferrous metals. The firm was headed by Wilfred
Henry Isbill, ( formerly of Blandy Isbill Foundry in
Slough ), assisted by his two sons, Michael & Edward.
Business In the Foundry 1948 was
good and the company moved to premises in Shipdham,
Norfolk in the early 1970s. Following the death
of Wilfred Isbill, and the departure of Edward due to
ill health, Michael was joined by Barry Sutton &
Adrian Bennett, and the firm was incorporated as
a Limited Company in 1980.
The eighties was a difficult period
for British manufacturing, and during that time many
foundries up & down the country were closing. Thankfully,
due to efficient organisation & the advantage of
a wide customer base, East Coast Casting Co was able
to survive, even to flourish. In 1983 the company
absorbed a small pattern shop & non-ferrous foundry
based in Suffolk, run at that time by Jim Thackeray,
who is now works manager at ECC.
A major change came in 1985, when
the company moved to it’s current location.
The history of the Carbrooke site
is long and varied, having been in industrial use for
a continuous period of around 200 years. The
original business, started and developed by the Page
& Hunton families, was firstly a blacksmith’s forge,
and later, also a foundry. Page Hunton Foundry
Ltd was still producing iron castings, mainly for agricultural
use, until it’s unfortunate demise in 1984/5, when the
business was placed in receivership. East
Coast Casting Co Ltd then purchased the business and
premises from the receiver. The former manager
of Page Hunton, Mike Wynne, joined the board of ECC
at this time, and the production staff were also retained.
Although many years have now passed, one of the
original employees has only recently retired, having
worked at the site for 50 years, and another is still
with us today.
In the Foundry 1948
This take-over gave ECC, for the
first time, the ability to offer both ferrous and non-ferrous
castings, including pattern-making facilities, and this
has proved to be a vital selling point in the modern
business environment.
Trading continued strongly throughout
the nineties and the company enjoyed steady growth,
including considerable expansion and modernisation of
the Carbrooke site. In the 21st century however,
the foundry industry is now shrinking again, along with
it’s customer base, and ECC Ltd is managing, as in the
past, to ride out the storm and adapt to changing markets.
In August 2000, Mike Wynne retired
through ill health, and sadly died the following May.Barry
Sutton retired as a director in December 2004, although
he still retains an interest in the company. In
2005, Barry’s son, Nick, was appointed to the board,
together with the third generation of the Isbill family,
Mike’s son Chris. Following Adrian Bennett’s retirement
in January 2006, the company is now left with
only one original member, Mike Isbill.
We now look forward to a period
of stability and hopefully many more years of production
on this site, offering a wide choice and high level
of service to our customers, both old and new.
Neville Watts seen at his farewell
2005
|
