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What More UK was established in 1999 by Burnley businessman Andy Holt. The business launched with 15 products, mainly plastic garden items, and turned over £4.5million in its first year. It has gone on to become a major employer in the borough of Hyndburn, employing 350 across two sites and exporting around the world.

What More are also loyal supporters of Accrington Stanley FC, with owner Andy Holt having invested heavily in the club at the start of their historic 2015/16 season. As Chairman, Andy Holt also led the refurbishment of the Wham Stadium – sponsored by What More UK’s leading brand – which began in 2015, and has continued to invest in and develop the club and ground, recently opening a £2.5m hospitality suite designed for use all year round by the local community.

Last week, due to his positive impact on the local community, Andy Holt was granted the honour of being awarded the title of Honorary Freeman of the Borough, by Hyndburn Borough Council at its annual council meeting.

Mr Holt said:

I am really pleased as sometimes running a football club can be a thankless task. It’s nice that this is appreciated. I am honoured the council has chosen to do this.

What More Company Director Tony Grimshaw OBE, added:

We have worked together for many years and I’m delighted Andy has been given such an honour for his work, which has a huge impact on the local community. If anyone deserves this accolade it’s Andy. He’s done so much to put Hyndburn on the map. The company, the football club and all the support he gives the Borough in general!

What More UK believe in the ‘Made in Britain’ ethos, buying local wherever possible and training their staff from the ground up. Engineering is a specialist industry requiring traditional skills, and the recent acquisition of Canteen Smithy will only strengthen What More’s toolmaking capabilities.

In order to keep up with their expansion and growth, they hire and train young apprentices, who train on the job to keep up local knowledge of manufacturing, and engineering skills. Elliot Prestage joined at just 16, and is working in the Bakeware department, and completing his apprenticeship with Burnley College. Harrison Julienne is the latest apprentice in the Production department. Other apprentices who have become valued members of the team are William Moat, in the Toolmaking department and Izaak Holden, in Production.

What More UK now employ 350 staff across their sites in Padiham and Altham, and are always looking for first class staff in traditional areas of engineering such as Toolmaking and Press Operation. The engineers work on brand new machines installed as part of their recent building expansion – 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:

Apprenticeships are a great way to keep and maintain the knowledge and skills base of the company. We’re happy to invest our time training people up, as we will always need engineers. It’s a great career to get into and I wish them all the best!

Heather Howarth, HR Manager, added

Our apprentices are really well supported by the team and get some excellent training that will last them a lifetime. I’d encourage anyone to apply. What More really invest in their people, including management and leadership training. I hope to be recruiting to support our growth for many years to come!

The pupils of St Mary’s RC Primary School in Clayton-le-Moors are an inspirational group of children. Their story of building an entire classroom outdoors went around the world and they were featured on the BBC. They are determined to give plastic a second life by making ecobricks – plastic bottles stuffed tight with single use plastic.

Responsible plastic housewares manufacturer Tony Grimshaw OBE (Director of What More UK) was invited to visit the school to see the project, and speak to them about the reuse of plastic and that ‘Not all Plastic is Drastic’. He returned the compliment by inviting them into the manufacturing premises of What More, just down the road in Altham, to see for themselves how recycling works for them.

What More creates reusable products from “single use” plastics, including for example, margarine tubs. 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 10,000 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.

What More also presented the visiting children with a bespoke engraved plaque during their visit, which was manufactured on their machinery.

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. They will be able to take this knowledge back and carry on with their environmental work, and we wish them all the best in their futures!

Garry Ireland, Operations Director at What More UK, said:

It was great to show children around who were so enthused about what we do, they asked lots of questions and it was a delight for me and my team to welcome them to What More. Some of the children showed real enthusiasm at learning all about our technology and I’m sure in the future some of them will become What More employees which will be a delight for us to support the local community.

Stacey Mason, Class 5 teacher at St Mary’s RC Primary School, added:

We had an amazing day at What More, absolutely fantastic, we even got some goodies to take home with us. The children were amazed at the technology involved and the recycling. I’ve even learned a lot myself, it has been a wonderful day out.

The school children are determined to continue making their ecobricks for bigger and more impressive projects in the future.

For more information about St. Mary’s Primary School in Clayton-le-Moors, including details of the ecobrick project and footage from the BBC North West’s coverage in 2019 visit www.st-marys-clayton-le-moors.lancs.sch.uk.

You can check out a video of the visit here: https://youtu.be/cL6OlzqrlrA

Team Wham^® will take to the National Three Peaks on the 10th September 2022, with the aim of raising £15,000 for Derian House, Children’s Hospice, a vital local charity.

We wish Team Wham^® every success in their £15,000 quest, if you would like to show your support to the team, please click on this link to their Just Giving page.

Derian House

Thank you for your support!

All Saints’ CE Primary, a busy and friendly school located on Church Street in Clayton le Moors, took the time to host business visitors in a special assembly featuring every year group. Gordon Preston, Outdoor Learning Leader was keen to hear What More’s vision about the future of plastic, and local tech company Sundown Solutions attended to talk about cyber security and career paths as developers.

As part of an #AmazingAccrington initiative to bring schools and employers closer together, Tony Grimshaw of What More was keen to explain to the school that ‘Not all Plastic is Drastic’, and although the Government are bringing in measures to eliminate avoidable plastic waste – such as plastic straws, their products offer a sustainable use of plastic, being re-usable, durable, and recycling other plastic items such as margarine tubs, with a zero to landfill approach.

Heath Groves, CEO of Sundown Solutions, was keen to show students at an early age that working in software development and cyber security is similar to using the gaming devices they use at home and requires the same skills. This will help them in their future career paths and inspire them to join this rapidly growing industry.

What More Director Tony Grimshaw OBE, explained: “This generation are very aware of environmental issues, and it’s great to be able to explain to them our green credentials and how not all plastic is bad. Hopefully we’ll see some of them in the future as apprentices!”

Heath Groves of Sundown Solutions added: “It was fantastic to hear that many pupils had already heard of Sundown, due to us sponsoring 37 local grass roots football teams a year. Our field of work is expanding very rapidly and it’s not easy to explain cyber security and how that works day to day – but most of the pupils have some sort of gaming device. We may see some of them as developers in the years to come!”

Murray Dawson, Chair of Amazing Accrington, commented: “It’s a pleasure to showcase Amazing Accrington businesses to over 240 pupils, who were all keen to learn more – with over 1700 registered businesses in Hyndburn, there is a future career for everyone.”

#AmazingAccrington have launched a new area of their website for Opportunities, showcasing education, training, apprenticeships and opportunities. This can be found here: https://opportunities.amazingaccrington.co.uk

What More UK, the Lancashire housewares manufacturer and exporter, are proud members of the manufacturing heartland of East Lancashire and pride themselves on having a multi-cultural and diverse team, with a recent count showing 19 different nationalities represented in their workforce of 350.

Recently they were pleased to host a visit from The Family Forge, a registered charity based in Skelmersdale, who work with refugees and asylum seekers. This group face multiple barriers to prosperity and opportunity, and The Family Forge assist them with a place of welcome, friendship and support; and also the life skills necessary to establish and flourish in their new home.

The group, who include people from many nationalities, are offered support with English language, maths, driving theory, CV development, job hunting, culinary and family topics amongst others. Practical assistance is also provided for refugee families when needed. As part of helping them settle into the UK, assistance with employment includes taking them into potential employers to get insight into working life in the UK. What More were delighted to be able to help them on their way.

Company Director Tony Grimshaw OBE, commented:

Both Garry Ireland, Operations Director and myself were delighted to be asked by Paula at The Family Forge to host their students on a visit to our factory, to show them what we do here. Lancashire has always embraced workers from outside our country, and they have been a tremendous addition to its already world beating workforce.

These students are so keen to be part of Lancashire’s manufacturing and service industries success story, it’s great to see, and they will be bringing new ideas and generally a great work ethic to our counties manufacturing and services industries. We wish them all them best!

Paula Walsh of The Family Forge added:

We received a very warm welcome at What More UK as we undertook a wonderfully comprehensive tour of both sites.

During our visit we gained a great insight into the production of a whole variety of products made from recycled and recyclable plastic, as well as witnessing the upkeep of the machinery.

Our students were undeniably positive in their subsequent feedback about our truly informative visit.

What More UK, the Lancashire housewares manufacturer and exporter, proudly count themselves as founder members of Made in Britain and support the future of British manufacturing, training their own apprentices and exporting goods all round the world.

Recently they were honoured to be invited to represent Lancashire, and Lancashire manufacturing at a special Lord Mayor’s Dinner at the Mansion House in London. The Lord Mayor of London is an elected position dating back to 1215, and the current, 693rd position is held by Vincent Keaveny, who works as a partner in the international law firm DLA Piper.

Among the duties of the Lord Mayor is to present London and the United Kingdom to the world as a leader in trade, financial technology, innovation in areas like cybersecurity and green finance, and in culture. Invited to the dinner, and seen as vital for their roles in manufacturing and technology, representing Lancashire were:

Khalid Saifullah MBE DL, Managing Director of Star Tissue Ltd
Deyrick Allen, Managing Director of IOT Horizon Ltd and
Tony Grimshaw OBE, Director of What More UK Ltd.

The event began with a welcome speech from The Lord Mayor of London, Vincent Keaveny and inspirational speeches from the Secretary of State, Kwasi Kwarteng and the President of the CBI, Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, followed by dinner.

Tony Grimshaw OBE, Director of What More UK Ltd, commented:

To be with Khalid and Deyrick, representing Lancashire and Lancashire manufacturing, was a very proud moment. Letting the world know just how well Lancashire makes many, many things brilliantly well, is a labour of love for all three of us. The good wine and exceptional food was a definite bonus as well!

This week What More UK hosted a visit from Sir Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party and Lisa Nandy, the Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up at their site in Altham.

The visitors spent several hours at What More, taking a full tour of the whole operation. They spoke with interest to many What More colleagues, as part of a fact finding tour to discuss building the prosperity of Britain through manufacturing, amongst other goals.  Views were sought from many, including ex apprentices, current apprentices and engineers in their state of the art machine shop.

Sir Keir has stated his father was a toolmaker and that he is very familiar with British manufacturing, so he was very interested in this part of the tour.

Company Director Tony Grimshaw OBE, commented: “During the visit we underlined that manufacturing isn’t a political issue, but a national necessity and as such, should expect cross party concentration and cross party support. Sir Keir listened to this comment, and was very interested to see what we do here and speak to lots of different team members.

The buzz from colleagues was tangible, all walking around with a spring in their step and a smile on their faces!”

Sir Keir Starmer has stated: “We, the Labour Party have got a package of £28 billion a year on the next generation of jobs. We want a buy, make and sell policy in Britain which means jobs will be local, and we want to deal with business rates and making our high streets thrive again. Levelling up will only happen if the scale of the plan matches the ambition of people.”

Congratulations to the twenty strong Team Wham from What More UK, the housewares manufacturer, who completed the tough Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge for charity last weekend. The team are colleagues from various departments right across the organisation, from toolmaking, warehouse, picking, sales – including Operations Director Garry Ireland.

The challenge involves walking 25 miles up three mountains – within 12 hours. This includes Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough. The team completed the task in just 10 hours 36 minutes!

It was a 6am start for Team Wham, with a forecast of thunderstorms and rain. Luckily, they only had to contest with light rain along the way. Everyone turned up ready and in good fitness, with a great support team in Lionel and Carl, who had 2 check points arranged to keep Team Wham hydrated and fuelled.

Garry Ireland, Operations Director, pictured in camouflage hat, said

“The hardest part was the last 2 miles, all our limbs were aching and everyone just wanted to get over the finish line. Once we’d completed the challenge it did rain hard but by then we didn’t care. The best thing was that the team had completed and exceeded the target of the £10,000 for the Accrington Stanley Community Trust. I am so proud of all Team Wham and I am thankful to everyone that donated. I know for sure this has made us a stronger team.”

Company Director Tony Grimshaw OBE, added: “Many congratulations to the team for taking on such a big challenge and smashing their target. It’s really important to us as a company to give back to our local community. Really proud of them all!”

The total raised by the day was £11,645, with an original goal of £10,000. Team Wham appreciated every donation. More can be seen about the work of Accrington Stanley Community Trust here: www.stanleytrust.co.uk

Team Wham, will take to the Yorkshire Three Peaks, on the 21^st August 2021, with the aim of raising £10,000 for the Accrington Stanley Trust .  A trust that is local to the community.

The challenge – Walk 25 miles up three mountains in 12 hours. Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.

Team Wham have been out training in the local area, completing various challenges in preparation for the main event, it is a team event with participants from each area of the Wham business.

Team Wham have undertaken the Huncoat Trail, on many occasions, training after a long day at work and walking around 8 to 10 miles through the local area, the team have also scaled Pendle hill on a few occasions, looking to build their fitness levels and speed.

We wish Team Wham every success in their £10,000 quest and if you would like to show your support to the team, please click on the link to their just giving page https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/teamwham?utm_term=wVYnzn8Pd

Thank you for your support.

Accrington Stanley Community Trust

Accrington Stanley Community Trust was originally established under the banner of Football in the Community in 2007, with the aim to bring the professional club and their community closer together. Natural progression from Football in the Community resulted in the scheme being taken on to work alongside and under the guidance of the Football League Trust. Accrington Stanley Community Trust has expanded at a phenomenal rate and we now work in 4 key themed areas: Sports Participation, Education, Health & Wellbeing and Social Inclusion.

Vision

“Use the power of Accrington Stanley Football Club to improve the lives of the people of Hyndburn through participation in sport and exercise”.

Mission

Our mission is to support the local community regardless of age, gender, race, religion or skill level and promote a healthier lifestyle through sport and education by encouraging individuals to take part in fun based activities, which develop confidence, co-operation and education.

Values

• Challenge behaviour and attitudes, promoting Respect and celebrating diversity • Inspire to achieve and Fulfil potential • Develop leaders, coaches and volunteers • Innovate in delivery

Purpose

In placing Accrington Stanley at the heart of the community we will: 1. Increase participation in Sport & Exercise. 2. Promote wellbeing and healthy lifestyles within local communities. 3. Deliver an inclusive programme of activities that involves and engages hard to reach groups, improving community cohesion. 4. Develop and empower leaders, coaches and volunteers. 5. Engage and inspire young people, raising and celebrating educational achievement. 6. Govern the operations of ASCT efficiently and effectively.

A huge congratulations to our two new apprentices who have begun their full-time positions. We are now looking for more to follow in their footsteps.

Since What More UK started the apprenticeship scheme, we have given full-time positions to all apprentices trained at our Altham site.

The two most recent apprentices to graduate the course are William Moat and Izaak Holden who have now began work in the tool room and injection moulding area.

The covid pandemic had put the brakes on the apprenticeship scheme but now we are looking out for more engineering and manufacturing stars of the future. Apprentices at What More will get the chance to work in the our impressive factory and learn to maintain state of the art machinery.

What More UK’s Manufacturing Director Rob Walker explained about the scheme:

“We’ve had great success in the past with our apprentices and that’s why we are keen to continue. We have an agreement with Burnley College where they spend a day a week learning the theory in class and four days a week with us here at What More.”

“The scheme had a set back with Covid but now we’re moving forward and we’re ready for the next group.”

For press enquiries please contact:

Richard Baldwin

Richard@scottdawson.co.uk

01282 426846

We are pleased to announce the promotion of Rob Walker to Manufacturing Director. Rob arrived at the company in 2014 as the Engineering Manager, bringing with him 17 years experience in the plastics industry.

Rob began his career in the plastics industry fresh out of school. He worked for a small moulding company where he spent 13 years learning everything there was to know about the production of plastic housewares. Now in his 37th year Rob has seen huge changes to the industry especially with breakthroughs in plastics manufacturing technology.

“As Engineering Manager I have been responsible for the huge change in infrastructure at What More UK, overseeing the upgrade in manufacturing equipment and processes. This included improved specification of new machines, moulds and associated equipment, which in turn has allowed What More to be more efficient to meet unprecedented demand in the plastics housewares sector”

As Manufacturing Director Rob will now oversee the impressive collection of new machinery that has massively increased production times, and look to the future with further investments to What More UK.

We are proud to announce that as a leading UK Manufacturer, as of Tuesday 14^th April we commenced the production of Medical Face Visor individual parts in support of the Emergency Services who are in great demand for such crucial safety protection ware.

This venture was born in collaboration with one of our specialist tool makers: Canteen Smithy Engineering Limited, a UK Manufacturer also, who within a record timeframe of 4 days designed, engineered and produced the tool mould ready for final production.

The strength and expertise of UK Manufacturing at its finest and a response turnaround time that when the whole world is on lock down highlights the benefits of our own countries production capabilities.

We are working with a current capacity of 8,500 visors per day and working to exceed 60,000 per week. We have put all our resources and expertise within manufacturing to ensure the highest quality and product performance to guarantee safety first and foremost.

Our CEO Mr Andy Holt has pledged to support our nation in any which way he can. This is just one part of the continued support we at WhatMore are able to contribute to our nation’s needs & requirements to remain safe, strong and to get through this difficult time together, united.

We would like to highlight to all reading this if you require any production capacity or manufacturing support of key products to support the vital work, care and safety of our front line emergency services in all capacities then please do not hesitate to contact us on WMSupport@whatmoreuk.com

Last week we opened our doors to the Year 5 pupils at Belthorn Academy Primary School. The main aim of the visit was to provide the children with an insight into potential future career paths, as well as show them that not all plastic is bad, and what we as a plastic manufacturer are doing to help tackle the current environmental issues with plastic.

Nathan Griffiths, year 5 teacher and STEM coordinator at Belthorn Primary, commented:

Our rural village school provides the kids with an incredible learning environment, but industrial visits like this are fantastic.  I’m incredibly passionate about STEM and teaching it; it should always inspire, and with visits like today, children get to see how the topics I teach in the classroom everyday, transpire in their future careers.

The visit started with a presentation and introduction to the company, followed by a tour of our Head Office show rooms where they could view our vast range of products. The next stop was our factory site at Altham Business Park where the children got to see first hand how the products are made and the scale of the whole manufacturing process. The visit finished with a lively Q&A session lead by our company directer Tony Grimshaw OBE.

Yvonne Brown, chair of the governors at Belthorn Primary, explained about the purpose of the visit:

We’ve come here to inspire the children, and to give them some idea of the pathways that are there for them in employment, and it’s been amazing. I’ve got What More products at home, I think everyone does, but I didn’t know they were made locally, and I didn’t realise they’re doing upcycling, and recycling. It’s really good for the children to see, and we want to increase the ties we’ve got with industry.

Over the last year we have diverted nearly 100 tonnes of plastic from landfill, repurposing it to make our Wham Upcycled and Wham Recycled ranges. The demand has been so strong that we’ve had to purchase scrap plastic from other manufacturers.

Here’s what Tony Grimshaw’s had to say:

These children are our customers and colleagues of tomorrow. We are keen to show them who we are and what we’re doing. The other reason for this visit is that plastic products are much maligned by journalists using the word ‘plastic’ on its own, when what they really mean is ‘single-use plastic’. We’re not trying to change the kids’ opinions about what’s good or bad. We just want to present the other side of the story so they can make an informed decision.

We hope the children feel more connected to local businesses, more aware of where products come from and how they are made. Hopefully this project will ignite further engagement with local schools and stimulate more interest in our apprenticeship scheme.

Click here to watch the video of the visit here