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What More UK, the Lancashire housewares manufacturer, and owner of the well-known brands Wham and BetterWare, had some great new products and branding to show at the annual Ambiente tradeshow in Frankfurt. What More are proud that all their products are Made in Britain, and they are the only end to end bakeware manufacturer in Europe.

The popular brand Wham has been revamped, with a fresh and modern new look plus the iconic British housewares brand BetterWare was also relaunched at Ambiente by new brand owners What More. Betterware has been in people’s homes since 1928, and What More even took some vintage products to show, with a price tag of 25p.

Other exciting new launches across housewares and bakeware included new colourways for the home, Sizzl sausage trays, BetterWare Food Locker, a range of food storage solutions, and Stack Ease, a range of stackable oven trays for easy storage.

What More UK Marketing and Ecommerce Director Jonathan Cliffe commented, “We’ve worked really hard on shaping the future of What More and our brands, to take us forward into the next stage of our growth and development.

“Being fully Made in Britain is something we’re really proud of, and our customers really appreciate it as a nark of quality and innovation.

“We’re also the only end to end bakeware manufacturer in Europe, as we control our own supply chain we can continue to improve quality and reliability for our customers.

“We had a really successful show in Frankfurt, with excellent feedback on the stand. It will be great to see our new branding and ranges hitting the shelves!”

Owner Andy Holt added, “UK producers can compete if the Government don’t damage competitiveness. We’re proud to be Made in Britain.”

What More UK manufacture metal and plastic housewares of all kinds, from around the sink items to garden, garage and officewares. What More is a proud member of Made in Britain and they export UK branded goods to 75 countries around the world, in addition to every major UK supermarket and another 1600 independent retailers.

What More UK, the Lancashire housewares manufacturer, and owner of the well-known brand Wham, pride themselves on constantly innovating to suit market needs. They have a great capacity for innovation thanks to their tooling team being completely in house, which gives the ultimate flexibility for creating new to market products.

This year’s huge development is bakeware designed to fit in air fryers. Over 30% of households just in the UK now own an air fryer, and the market is expected to show a volume growth of 8.9% in 2024, making it the ideal time to launch. They come in a Pewter finish, with Skandia extreme non-stick coating.

Air fryers can cook pretty much anything you can bake in a regular oven – but quicker and tastier. The current problem is anything that’s liquid based – whether this is eggs, lasagne, cakes, pies with fillings – liner type products tend to slow the cooking process and aren’t practical for removal. This is where the new Air Fry range from Wham comes in.

The products include a small loaf tin, and an oval tin designed to make lasagne or pies in, amongst other innovative solutions. A deep pudding dish is available for those glorious sticky toffee puddings, and mini fluted round dishes for delicious quiches. They’re fully non-stick, which helps the end result to come out perfectly. Now your favourite kitchen gadget can cook all your favourite recipes!

What More UK Director Tony Grimshaw OBE is very proud of their new inventions. He said,

“Air fryers are here to stay, and getting ever more popular. We saw the absolute need in the market for smaller bakeware that can be used to make things that really couldn’t be made in the air fryer before, such as lasagne.”

“The range has been exhibited at our major global trade shows, including Ambiente in Frankfurt and The Inspired Home Show in Chicago. Buyers were really impressed with our innovative solution, and the fact they were to our usual highest quality and as always proudly Made in Britain. I’m sure they’ll be flying off the shelves very soon too!”

What More UK manufacture metal and plastic housewares of all kinds, from around the sink items to garden, garage and officewares. What More is a proud member of Made in Britain and they export UK branded goods to 75 countries around the world, in addition to every major UK supermarket and another 1600 independent retailers.

For more information about What More UK visit www.whatmoreuk.com

What More UK, the Lancashire housewares manufacturer, and owner of the well-known brand Wham, are known as a company for giving back to the communities around them, including colleague teams completing the Three Peaks challenge to raise funds.

Recently Company Director Tony Grimshaw was invited to tour Healthier Heroes in Burnley, a veteran’s charity established in 2018 which provides accommodation and support to ex service men and women, to help overcome social isolation, homelessness and improving mental health and wellbeing in the veteran community.

Tony, who himself served in the military, was so impressed with the facility at Bancroft House and services on offer that he offered a donation of storage boxes from Wham, as they will be needed to store clothes, bedding and other items needed to be kept clean and dry.

What More UK Director Tony Grimshaw OBE said,

I’d like to encourage other businesses within East Lancashire and Burnley in particular, to donate as much as they possibly can to this establishment. The people, the recipients of the services of this place, have given parts of their young lives and it’s time to pay back – so give what you can.

Managing Director of Healthier Heroes, Andrew Powell, added:

In the last three years, Healthier Heroes has been able to support over 200 homeless veterans, and we’ve got a massive waiting list as well. On 22 June we’re holding the Armed Forces Day event at Towneley Park, so if you want to come down and support us that way, all money raised helps us to run this service because last year it cost us over half a million pounds.

Any help and support, whether that’s fundraising or donations, is more than welcomed. Donations from our local business community would really help with our running costs, so please get in touch if there’s anything you can spare. Thank you to Tony for his support!

What More UK manufacture metal and plastic housewares of all kinds, from around the sink items to garden, garage and officewares. What More is a proud member of Made in Britain and they export UK branded goods to 75 countries around the world, in addition to every major UK supermarket and another 1600 independent retailers.

For more information about What More UK visit www.whatmoreuk.com

What More UK, the Lancashire housewares manufacturer, and owner of the well-known brand Wham, has been a regular exhibitor at the annual Ambiente tradeshow for more than 20 years. What More will return this week with some outstanding product ranges, sure to take the show by storm. They will once again take two stands, Hall 9.2 C05 and Hall 9.0 E36, to maximise space available for showcasing their products.

The first huge development is bakeware designed to fit in air fryers. Over 30% of households just in the UK now own an air fryer, and the market is expected to show a volume growth of 8.9% in 2024, making it the ideal time to launch. The products include a small loaf tin, and an oval tin designed to make lasagne or pies in, amongst other innovative solutions. They come in a Pewter finish, with Skandia extreme non-stick coating.

The next innovative solution is a Nesting range of roasters, oven trays and deep trays, five of each which have been designed to fit perfectly inside each other, maximising space in the oven and saving space in storage. They are also perfect for retailers, as they create sets that fit perfectly together to stack on the shelf, and also take up less space in transit cartons. This innovation was made possible by having all tooling made in house, with a team of highly skilled engineers.

There will also be new plastics from Wham on show, with the ever popular Crystal box in new sizes, and showcasing Navy Blue as a standard colour in the Casa range. New non-stick coatings will also be on show for Bakeware, both performance options, and colour options including Dark Denim, Sky Blue, Red and Purple, showing What More’s versatility and width of coating options for different markets and retailer private label ranges.

What More UK Director Tony Grimshaw OBE is looking forward to returning to Ambiente. He said,

Ambiente really is the highlight of our year. We’ve got so much to show this time, and our investment in our tooling room is really paying off, bringing out innovative solutions and capturing new markets.

All our International Sales Team work really hard, and Ambiente is a very impressive spectacle. Our two stands cover Housewares (plastic mouldings) and Cookware (Bakeware pressed steel). Housewares will be in Hall 9.2 on Stand C05, and Bakeware in Hall 9 on Stand E36.

After this we’re exhibiting again in Chicago in March and at Exclusively in June. Trade shows are such an important way to connect with our customers, all round the world. I can’t wait to show off our new products, all proudly Made in Britain!

What More UK manufacture metal and plastic housewares of all kinds, from around the sink items to garden, garage and officewares. What More is a proud member of Made in Britain and they export UK branded goods to 75 countries around the world, in addition to every major UK supermarket and another 1600 independent retailers.

What More UK, the Lancashire housewares manufacturer, and owner of the well-known brand Wham, was delighted to have an extended range of the award winning PushPan® round cake tins showcased on QVC Germany this week.

QVC is one of the 10 largest mail-order companies in Germany, with a market share of 50%. With the bakeware market also being very strong in Europe and particularly Germany, a spot on QVC is a prestigious thing to achieve. QVC is available to 37.5 million households just in Germany via cable and satellite, plus products are available online across Europe.

Featured as a special on the popular evening show “Kochen und Geniessen”, the comprehensive presentation put the 20cm and 23cm deep PushPan® products through their paces, with five different cakes including a Spanish apple cake with sugar coating, a several layered banana cake with German buttercream, and a German cheesecake. To highlight the versatility, the presenter also made bread in the pan, plus filled it with water live on air to fully demonstrate that they are leak proof!

Nick Lenkowski, Bakeware Sales and Marketing Manager said

QVC has a great reputation in Germany and is very popular, so to get a demonstration feature like this on a prime time show is really good for us and for the PushPan® brand. It is a superb product, and definitely the right choice for the type of products they were making!

What More UK Director Tony Grimshaw OBE was delighted with the opportunity on QVC Germany, as it forms part of key growth plans for the PushPan® brand. He commented,

PushPan® has been a great investment for What More, and we quickly integrated all production in house at our base in East Lancashire – so all PushPan® products are now Made in Britain!

The German bakeware market has always been strong, and we’re keen to support the market and continue to sell well there – so a full demonstration on QVC will help us with that. Of course we’re looking forward to exhibiting at Ambiente again soon, which is this biggest show in the world. This makes it key for meeting up with our global contacts – it’s always a great place to catch up!

The PushPan® brand is fully owned by What More, and has an innovative design featuring a unique silicone seal ring in the base, making it 100% leak proof and water tight. This helps with very liquid mixtures, and removing the finished cake smoothly and in one piece is easy, as you can simply push the product out.

What More UK manufacture metal and plastic housewares of all kinds, from around the sink items to garden, garage and officewares. What More is a proud member of Made in Britain and they export UK branded goods to 75 countries around the world, in addition to every major UK supermarket and another 1600 independent retailers.

In very positive news for the UK retail market, the online brand of high street retailer Wilko has been rescued by the owner of The Range, CDS Superstores Ltd in a multi million pound deal. Just yesterday the online store came back online – and the very first product bought by keen shoppers was the ever popular and useful Wham Crystal Storage Box!

Wilko.com will continue to trade and add more and more lines to its offering, and they have promised to bring back Wilko own-brand products alongside branded goods such as the Wham range of household items. The brands are a perfect fit, with Wilko being focussed on value, durability, and items that help around the home.

Lorraine Briggs, Direct Sales Manager at What More, is pleased to see the brand return. She commented,

It’s been a tough year for Wilko, and Wham Direct continued to offer support through this difficult period. We’ve had a very positive online partnership for more than 6 years and so I was saddened, particularly for their staff, when their closure was announced.

I was fortunate to hear the breaking news that CDS had saved Wilko.com and its employees, immediately contacting the buyer who’d also just been informed to get back up and running!  The relaunch has been incredibly efficient, and we hope that customers will continue to have confidence in Wilko.com.

It’s awesome that the very first product sold on the newly relaunched website is a Wham product, manufactured in the UK, from our best-selling Crystal range. I look forward seeing many more orders fulfilled and sharing in Wilko.com’s future success.

Jonathan Cliffe, Ecommerce and Marketing Director for What More added,

It’s great news for the UK retail market that the popular retail brand Wilko is able to carry on online, thanks to the team at The Range. Even better news that our storage box was the very first thing that shoppers needed when the site relaunched!

We’ve always had a great partnership with Wilko online, and we welcome them back and wish them all the best going forward.

What More UK manufactures storage boxes and housewares of all kinds under the Wham brand including storage boxes, bakeware, around-the-sink items, products for the home laundry, utility room, and items for the garden like planters and troughs. What More’s products are all made in East Lancashire and are sold in 76 countries around the world.

What More, manufacturers of the popular household brand Wham, produce millions of plastic goods per year. They are a responsible manufacturer, and have a fully recycled range as well as producing goods which mean other, non-recyclable coverings don’t have to be used – such as reusable plastic lunch boxes.

Local primary school Hyndburn Park have been studying the environment, and the impact of single use plastics on the planet. Responsible plastic housewares manufacturer Tony Grimshaw OBE (Director of What More UK) invited them into the manufacturing premises of What More, just down the road from them in Altham, to see for themselves how recycling works in practise.

Single use plastics, including for example margarine tubs, are used by What More to create reusable products. The firm’s popular Upcycled range of housewares is made from 95% recycled post-consumer plastics. Every year, What More give a new lease of life to over 5,000 tonnes of recycled plastic, made up of both domestic and industrial waste.

The pupils were fascinated to see the size and scale of What More, and how they take environmental concerns very seriously and implement measures to reduce their impact on our planet. The visit went so well that a second class were brought for a visit, so those pupils could learn more about What More.

Tony Grimshaw commented:

It was fantastic to have the children in our factory and be able to show them in real life how we care for the environment through all our processes. We take our manufacturing and environmental responsibilities very seriously, and it’s great to be able to pass this on to primary age children, with the message that not all plastic is drastic!

Garry Ireland, Operations Director, added:

The children were really interested and engaged in what we were showing and telling them, and it’s great to be able to pass this on at a young age.

Sally Hulse, HR Manager, said:

We love having students in to learn more about our processes and how we work. They’re so interested in what goes on, hopefully we can inspire them to be future engineers!

We had over 60 thank you letters after the visits, all remembering our phrase Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, and thanking us for enriching their learning on their Keen to be Green topic!

What More UK, manufacturer of housewares brand Wham, are making great strides on integrating their latest acquisition Firsteel Ltd into the What More Group. One thing that has impressed the team at Firsteel is the success of the What More apprenticeship programme, and what it brings to the company.

What More operate in a specialist industry requiring traditional engineering skills. They pride themselves on their exceptional Apprenticeship programme run in conjunction with Burnley College, and were happy to share best practise with colleagues at Firsteel.

A team from Firsteel decided to investigate the possibility of replicating it in Walsall, to ensure their skills base continues to expand and retain traditional skills. Paul Didlick, General Manager and Barry Featherstone, Engineer Manager of Firsteel along with What More’s Garry Ireland, Operations Director and Sally Hulse, Group HR Manager soon made contact with the specialist department at Walsall College and the wheels were very quickly put in motion.

They were able to employ one apprentice to start immediately, and another, the grandson of a current member of staff, will start on receipt of his positive exam results. The team are also engaged with Walsall College to find a third, who will be working in the Technical Department. The second phase of this project is to provide work experience to a number of keen students from Walsall College. From this, Firsteel hope to find another two apprentices to join the team.

Directors at What More UK are delighted with how well Firsteel have fitted in to the group company. Company Director Tony Grimshaw OBE, commented:

The 40 members of staff at Firsteel are true professionals. The majority of the staff on the shop floor have over 30 years experience. They look forward to passing their wealth of knowledge and experience on to these young people, ensuring their skills carry forward to the next generations.

Firsteel, who manufacture and develop customised prefinished metal, are leaders in their field and have blended in very easily with other What More group companies. We’re really looking forward to the future now and what success that will bring!

What More UK manufacture metal and plastic housewares of all kinds, from around the sink items to garden, garage and officewares. What More is a proud member of Made in Britain and they export UK branded goods to 76 countries around the world, in addition to every major UK supermarket and another 1600 independent retailers.

What More UK, manufacturer of housewares brand Wham, are very pleased to announce the acquisition of Firsteel Ltd, which is another fantastic milestone in the successful and eventful history of the company.

Under the Wham brand, What More are the undisputed UK brand and market leader in plastic housewares, storage and garden products. This brand leadership has been achieved by heavy investment in people, product development, state of the art manufacturing machinery, and investment in infrastructure and estate.

Using their success in the UK and Export markets as a blueprint, they have successfully gained ground in the bakeware and cookware markets. Firstly, they invested in bakeware machinery and moulds from a company founded in 1890, along with its key personnel, to develop a new division. 

With this as a manufacturing base, they were able to purchase patented PushPan from a Chinese company and enable the entire range to become Made in Britain, which is very important to What More. The PushPan product concept won Product of the Year at the Chicago International Housewares Show, and helped give the What More bakeware offer credibility, especially in international markets where it was already an accepted brand.

Beginning the investment and development strategy as they successfully ran with plastic products, What More invested in a new state of the art tool room, enabling them to revamp the whole acquired range of products. This included a large investment in fully automated presses, giving a hugely increased production capacity. They also acquired local toolroom facility Canteen Smithy, to boost their mould making capability and retain traditional engineering skills locally.

What More’s latest acquisition is Firsteel Ltd, based in the West Midlands. Firsteel is dedicated to the manufacture and development of customised prefinished metal. Coil coating is a process applying coating material to coiled metal strip continuously. What More then turn this coated metal into bakeware and cookware, so the acquisition will secure their bakeware and cookware lines of supply, giving them total quality control of the whole process of production.

What More UK Director Tony Grimshaw OBE is delighted by the acquisition and welcomes the new colleagues at Firsteel to the ever growing What More manufacturing family. He commented,

Their contribution will be essential and absolutely brilliant, of that we are sure. This move will lead to other product opportunities and development, even using other metals.

At the moment the UK brand and market leader in bakeware and cookware is China.We have super quality products at competitive prices, manufacturing capacity, a secure supply line and our outstanding reputation for customer service.We now look for the continued support of UK retailing and hopefully gaining more, to achieve the goal of UK brand and market leadership in the bakeware and cookware sector.

This is a match made in heaven. Firsteel’s expertise, and their proud, committed, and enthusiastic workforce will slot in perfectly with the rest of theWhat More team. Now we truly are a drawing board to the oven, bakeware/cookware supplier. Designed in the UK, made in theUK, sold to the UK and the world!

What More UK, manufacturer of the well-known Lancashire housewares brand Wham, has been a regular exhibitor at the annual Ambiente tradeshow for more than 20 years. This year What More returned with two stands to make the most of the huge opportunity, and called it a great success!

Ambiente is the leading international consumer goods trade fair. With Dining, Living, Giving and the new Working section, Ambiente presents a unique mix of new ideas and products, and provides a major platform for global trends. It was a great opportunity for Wham products to be displayed to buyers from all over the world, with export customers mixing with major UK supermarkets and retailers.

Visiting a large scale trade show like Ambiente requires months of preparation and a real team effort. The preparation starts with new product ideas, testing and production. Manufacturing and office based teams need to prepare the products, stands and all the logistical arrangements, ensuring everything turns up pristine and can be showcased in its best light. The dedicated Sales teams then work hard for days, meeting contacts and visitors.

What More UK Director Tony Grimshaw OBE always looks forward to returning to Ambiente. He said,

We were delighted to return to Frankfurt, meet new contacts and showcase our latest ranges and trends. Ambiente really is the highlight of our year. We’ve always said we don’t make customers, we make valued friends. It’s great to catch up with people we know too, our valued customers!

Our two stands this year covered Housewares (plastic mouldings) and Cookware (Bakeware pressed steel). We recorded our highest ever visitor numbers to our stands, and all credit to our sales team working long hours every day.

It’s a huge team effort from everyone at What More in the preparation and delivery of events – and the Directors are so proud of every colleague involved, who all pull together to make this a success. The work doesn’t stop now either, with quotes flying out to turn interest into orders.

It was a great success and we will definitely be back. Our next stop is at The Inspired Home Show in Chicago next month, stand S4419, and we hope to continue our excellent export sales with our hard working Sales Team!

What More UK manufacture metal and plastic housewares of all kinds, from around the sink items to garden, garage and officewares. What More is a proud member of Made in Britain and they export UK branded goods to 75 countries around the world, in addition to every major UK supermarket and another 1600 independent retailers.

For more information about What More UK visit www.whatmoreuk.com

What More UK, the Lancashire housewares manufacturer, and owner of the well-known brand Wham, is delighted to showcase an extended range of the award winning PushPan® round cake tins at the upcoming trade shows Ambiente, in Frankfurt, and The Inspired Home Show in Chicago.

PushPan® is a favourite of Mary Berry of “Great British Bake Off” fame and professional bakers including the Pastry Chef at the prestigious French Laundry restaurant in California, due to its innovative design giving superb results every time. The base features a unique silicone seal ring, making it 100% leak proof and water tight. This helps with very liquid mixtures, and is ideal for making baked cheesecakes in a water bath. Removing the finished cake smoothly and in one piece is easy, simply put the full pan on a tin can or mug, and push the product out – no need for liners!

What More have also brought all production in house at their base in East Lancashire, and can now proudly say all PushPan® products are Made in Britain. The coating is ILAFLON® Select R, an Ilag Special non-stick coating which will give years of service with perfect turnouts and easy cleaning. The range extends to 8.5cm deep in 15cm diameter, 18cm, 20cm, 23cm and 25cm; plus 4.3cm deep in 18cm, 20cm, and 23cm varieties.

What More UK Director Tony Grimshaw OBE is looking forward to returning to Ambiente and Chicago once again, as they are a major platform for global trends. He said:

PushPan® has been a great investment for What More, and we’ve worked hard on new tooling to expand the range. We are excited to return to Ambiente and Chicago, the two biggest global trade shows for our industry, and we can’t wait to see old friends and new and continue our export growth.

PushPan® won the prestigious 1st Prize in COOK + Bakeware at the International Housewares Association’s Innovation awards at a previous Chicago exhibition, so we’re delighted to return there showcasing an extended range, which is now proudly Made in Britain!

What More UK manufacture metal and plastic housewares of all kinds, from around the sink items to garden, garage and officewares. What More is a proud member of Made in Britain and they export UK branded goods to 75 countries around the world, in addition to every major UK supermarket and another 1600 independent retailers.

For more information about What More UK visit www.whatmoreuk.com

What More UK, the Lancashire housewares manufacturer, and owner of the well-known brand Wham, has been a regular exhibitor at the annual Ambiente tradeshow for more than 20 years. Following cancellation of the event in 2022, the Frankfurt trade show is back to full strength, and What More will return with two stands to make the most of this huge opportunity, held from 3rd to 7th February 2023.

Ambiente is the leading international consumer goods trade fair. Before the pandemic caused 2022’s cancellation, it regularly attracted astonishing numbers of exhibitors and visitors. In 2019 the show saw 4460 exhibitors from 92 countries and 136,000 visitors from 162 countries. With Dining, Living, Giving and the new Working section, Ambiente presents a unique mix of new ideas and products, and provides a major platform for global trends.

What More UK Director Tony Grimshaw OBE is looking forward to returning to Ambiente once again. He said,

We’re absolutely delighted to be returning to Frankfurt in February, and showcasing our latest ranges and trends. Ambiente is such an important event for lots of reasons. We’ve always said we don’t make customers, we make valued friends. It really is the highlight of our year.

All our International Sales Team work really hard, and Ambiente is a very impressive spectacle. Our two stands this year will cover Housewares (plastic mouldings) and Cookware (Bakeware pressed steel). Housewares will be in Hall 9.2 on Stand C05, and Bakeware in Hall 9 on Stand E30. We can’t wait to see friends and make contacts old and new!

What More UK manufacture metal and plastic housewares of all kinds, from around the sink items to garden, garage and officewares. What More is a proud member of Made in Britain and they export UK branded goods to 75 countries around the world, in addition to every major UK supermarket and another 1600 independent retailers.

What More UK, manufacturers of bakeware and housewares, recently hosted a visit from GCSE Design and Technology students from Withington Girls’ School in Manchester, who have an interest in becoming engineers of the future.

The students have been studying designing and making principles, including a broad range of design processes, materials, techniques and equipment. One production process is injection moulding, which What More do on a huge scale, producing millions of houseware products a year. What More are always encouraging schools to visit to see their first class facilities, and hope to inspire more female engineers to apply for their apprenticeship programme.

Following an introduction by Company Director Tony Grimshaw OBE explaining that their products are shipped to 75 countries worldwide, and they are well known for their engineering excellence, the students then had a tour of the facilities. They were informed about the design and engineering processes, as well as seeing the impressive production facilities up close.

Fabiola Cotton, Head of Design Technology at Withington Girls’ School, said on the day:

We wanted to give the students an opportunity to see what they’re learning from a book about manufacturing, injection moulding, how things are made in mass quantities, and how things go through a warehouse – actually seeing the scale of manufacturing equipment, and how equipment might work together.

We’ve only been running our GCSE DT for the last three years, and of course that’s been during the pandemic, so we haven’t been able to take students out to see factories – this is the first time ever, so that’s why it’s important!

Camille Corbett, a Year 10 student, commented:

We’re doing Design Technology at school, and I’ve just started the first year of my GCSE. I like the innovation, coming up with new ideas, and thinking about the different ways things work, and what you can do to make things better!

Company Director Tony Grimshaw OBE, added:

It was a fantastic visit from a really engaged group of students and teachers. I have to say it was one of the best visits we have had. The students were so attentive and wanted to be involved, and they all seemed to really enjoy it too. It really was a pleasure taking them around, the factory never stops impressing visitors and me alike. It was spotlessly clean and everyone working hard! I hope this group are inspired to be female engineers of the future, and would welcome them to apply to What More.

Garry Ireland, Operations Director at What More, said:

What a great group of students, I really enjoyed their time with us today. They were certainly interested in everything we do, so it feels really worthwhile being able to explain our processes and show off our fantastic equipment. I wish them all the best for the future!

Watch the video below:

The team at What More UK regularly donate to charity, and completing their latest challenge enabled them to smash their target of £15,000 for Derian House, the local young people’s hospice. Through completing the National Three Peaks Challenge, the Wham Team have raised an outstanding £18,846 for the charity.

Last year, staff took on the tough Yorkshire Three Peaks, and this year Team Wham decided to push themselves further and take on the National Three Peaks Challenge, the three highest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales. They successfully climbed all three peaks in just under 25 hours, a staggering achievement with time lost due to M6 closures!

The team challenge was to raise funds for Derian House in Chorley. This is a hospice doing fantastic work providing respite and end-of-life care to more than 450 children and young people across the North West – 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Derian House only receive 17% funding from the government, but services cost £5.7 million to run every year, so they really appreciate all donations.

Garry Ireland, Operations Director at What More, said:

I’m so proud of everyone involved. A massive thank you must go to the team members, John Clayton, Lee Morris, Matthew Hand, Sarunas Silinis, William Moat, Tomasz Bulandra, Tomas Zablackas, Lukasz Werner and Marc Barratt, who have given up their time and trained in all weathers, ensuring their fitness for the challenge, plus Lionel Simmons and Carl Hughes, who supported the team during the actual challenge. It was a very tough day but we made it!

Ann-Marie Fishwick, Community Fundraiser at Derian House, commented:

We’re so thankful for the team at Wham for their tremendous challenge, and for raising such a fantastic amount of money!

Company Director Tony Grimshaw OBE, added:

This is an incredible amount and I’m so proud of all the team – we were behind them all the way. That’s over £30,000 raised in two years – really amazing. I want to know what’s next!

Team Wham appreciate every donation, and if you would like to show your support to the team, please take a look at their JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/fundraising/what-more-uk-derian-house

More can be seen about the amazing work of Derian House here: www.derianhouse.co.uk

As part of their aim to raise £15,000 for Derian House, the local young people’s hospice, through completing the National Three Peaks Challenge, the Wham Foundation have generously donated £5000 towards their total.

Last year, staff took on the tough Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for Accrington Stanley Community Trust, and raised a fantastic £11,645. This year, Team Wham have pledged to take on the National Three Peaks Challenge, which involves climbing the three highest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales. They have successfully climbed all three peaks separately in training.

The team challenge has the aim of beating last year’s target and raising £15,000 for Derian House in Chorley. This is a hospice doing fantastic work providing respite and end-of-life care to more than 450 children and young people across the North West – 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Derian House only receive 17% funding from the government, but services cost £5.7 million to run every year, so they really appreciate all donations.

Speaking from Derian House as Team Wham went to look round the facility and hand over the pledge, Garry Ireland, Operations Director, said:

We’re here today because the Wham Foundation have donated a massive £5000 towards our £15,000 target. We’d like to thank the Wham Foundation for donating this. Team Wham are going to work really hard to try and raise £15,000 for Derian House who do a fantastic job for young people in Chorley, and we’re delighted to be raising these funds for them.

Nick Croskery, Fundraising Manager at Derian House, commented:

Here at Derian House, we provide respite and end of life care for children with what we call life limiting, or life shortening conditions – to 450 families or thereabouts across the whole of the northwest of England. It was really good to welcome Team Wham to the hospice. They’ve seen first hand where their fundraising and efforts will go, towards helping our children and families. It’s crucial to the operation of the hospice. Any kind of figure that Team Wham will raise for us during the challenge is absolutely amazing, but the figure that they’re planning to raise of over £15,000 pound is just outstanding!

Company Director Tony Grimshaw OBE, added:

This is a great cause, and I encourage people to donate to spur them on in their really tough challenge. Completing all three peaks in training shows they can do it, and we’ll be supporting them all the way!

Team Wham appreciate every donation in their £15,000 quest, and if you would like to show your support to the team, please take a look at their JustGiving page. 

Housewares manufacturer and exporter, What More UK, have a long standing tradition of giving back to local charities, to support their local communities.

More can be seen about the amazing work of Derian House here.

What More UK, manufacturers of bakeware and housewares, operate in a specialist industry requiring traditional skills. They pride themselves on their Apprenticeship programme, and their latest recruit is award winning.

What More are in a position of expansion and growth. In order to keep up local knowledge of traditional engineering skills, they have a programme of hiring and training young Apprentices. Harrison Julien is the latest Apprentice in the Production department, and has successfully completed his Apprenticeship at Burnley College, and is now a permanent employee at What More. Other Apprentices who have become valued members of the team are Elliot Prestage in the Bakeware department, William Moat in the Toolmaking department and Izaak Holden, in Production.

During his Apprenticeship, Harrison was given a special recognition award from Burnley College for his work – a CAD award for going above and beyond. This bodes well for his future career at What More, where staff feel valued and recognised for their contribution to the company’s growth and success. What More UK now employ 350 staff across their sites in Padiham and Altham, and recently completed a £20m investment programme, which included 13 new injection moulding machines.

Directors at What More UK see their Apprenticeship programme as an ongoing process. Company Director Tony Grimshaw OBE, explained:

We’re happy to invest our time training our young Apprentices, as we will always need engineers and their knowledge and skills. Congratulations to Harrison on his award, and I hope all our Apprentices have a long and successful career at What More!

What More UK manufactures storage boxes and housewares of all kinds under the Wham brand including bakeware, around-the-sink items, products for the home laundry, utility room, and items for the garden like planters and troughs. What More’s products are all made in East Lancashire and are sold in 75 countries around the world.

As part of their aim to raise £15,000 for Derian House, the local young people’s hospice, through completing the National Three Peaks Challenge, staff from What More UK took on a training climb of Ben Nevis – and did the climb and return in just 4 hours 30 minutes! This completes their training climbs, as they have now conquered all three peaks separately in training.

Last year, staff took on the tough Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for Accrington Stanley Community Trust. Braving the awful weather, the team successfully completed the challenge in just 10 hours 36 minutes, and raised a fantastic £11,645. This year, Team Wham have pledged to take on the National Challenge, considered to be much more difficult.

The National Three Peaks Challenge involves climbing the three highest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales. On 10th September 2022, the team will commence the climb with Ben Nevis (1345m) at 8am, then Scafell Pike (978m) at 7pm and the final climb of Snowdon (1085m), at 4am. They aim to complete all 3 climbs by 8am on 11th September 2022, at total of 3,408 metres in 24 hours.

The team challenge has the aim of beating last year’s target and raising £15,000 for Derian House in Chorley. This is a hospice doing fantastic work providing respite and end-of-life care to more than 450 children and young people across the North West – 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Derian House only receive 17% funding from the government, but services cost £5.7 million to run every year, so they really appreciate all donations.

Garry Ireland, Operations Director, said

The team have been working hard all year improving our fitness and speed to ensure we achieve this enormous challenge and raise vital funds for Derian House. Ben Nevis wasn’t easy, with visibility poor at the top, but we’re confident now we’ve climbed all three!

Company Director Tony Grimshaw OBE, added:

This is a great cause, and I encourage people to donate to spur them on in their really tough challenge. Completing all three peaks in training shows they can do it, and we’ll be supporting them all the way!

Team Wham appreciate every donation in their £15,000 quest, and if you would like to show your support to the team, please take a look at their JustGiving page.

Housewares manufacturer and exporter, What More UK, have a long standing tradition of giving back to local charities, to support their local communities.

More can be seen about the amazing work of Derian House here: www.derianhouse.co.uk