Norbar Torque Tools wins Coutts prize for family business
Norbar Torque Tools of Banbury has been named ‘Best UK Family Business, Southern England and Wales Region’ in the £5-25 million turnover category of the Coutts Prize for Family Business 2008/9. The company will now go on to compete in the same category at the national finals to be held in central London on 23 June.
Established in 1942, Norbar as a third-generation family business reportedly became the first company in Britain to commercially manufacture a torque wrench. The initial demand was driven by the need for the gasket-less cylinder head of the Rolls Royce Merlin engine to be accurately tightened. Since then, Norbar has continued to invest in the latest design, manufacturing and quality control technology to achieve a high level of innovation and precision in the field of torque control and equipment. Now employing 200 people in Banbury, with a further 90 staff within its sales companies in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and China, the company states that its philosophy is about providing customers with high quality value-for-money products and services whilst being committed to the principals of environmental sustainability.
Craig Brodey, chairman of Norbar, commented: “When our solicitors Brethertons nominated us for the award we were delighted to learn that the criteria for judging was not just based on a winning performance in the market place, but also included some of the other core values that the Brodey family believe are key to a successful business. These include striving for the best practice in family & business governance, social responsibility, and environmental sustainability. While we may be a modern company in terms of outlook we have never abandoned some of the key fundamentals that the founder Bill Brodey exemplified such as integrity, respect and a desire to do the right thing by people. We are very pleased to have won this award reflecting as it does both the pride and the hard work of everyone involved in Norbar.”
Impressive qualities
Ian Marsh, mediator and founder, familydr and regional chairman of the evaluation committee commented that as a successful third generation family business, the qualities that impressed the evaluation committee about Norbar Torque Tools included:
- Its well managed and innovative business, underpinned with a strong business brand and a clear strategic vision, which everyone buys-into.
- The professional approach taken by members of the family working in the business to ensure they have clearly differentiated roles and responsibilities.
- The company’s ability to demonstrate a solid set of family values that feed through into its business objectives and the whole way the business is run.
- The family’s approach to community involvement and charitable giving through both their family and business activities.
Juliette Johnson, senior family business adviser, Coutts & Co added: “We’re delighted to provide recognition to this special family business and showcase their achievements for the benefit of other family businesses. What really shines through is the strength of the family's values. These influence how and why things get done and act as the glue binding the family and business together. These strong values, coupled with their conservative approach and long term planning, should give them the best possible chance to weather this current economic downturn.”
The Coutts Prize recognises firms in three categories (£1m-5m, £5m-£25m,
£25m+) that demonstrate a combination of high standards of family governance and corporate governance, a competitive market position, consistent financial growth, and a track record of charitable giving or involvement in local community. Entrants must be companies or firms where two or more family members together have control of over 25 per cent of the voting shares and consider themselves as a family business.
For the user there are several benefits: simple air controls; lower air consumption as the power is only produced when you need it. Also there is no need to set the tooling to a precise height (as would be necessary in a mechanical press) as the hydraulic action simply "bottoms out" whenever the resistance is greater.
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