Acorn Stairlifts is proud to be involved again with Bradford Manufacturing Weeks, an annual event which introduces young people to careers in modern manufacturing.
Launched by Bradford Chamber of Commerce, the initiative brings local manufacturers, schools and young people together through a range of activities. They usually include factory tours, work experience, seminars, exhibitions and learning events held at participating manufacturers’ premises.
Because of covid-19 restrictions, this year’s Bradford Manufacturing Weeks – taking place from October 5th to 16th – have had to adapt, but that’s something manufacturers do all the time! This year’s activities will be entirely online, with more than 40 manufacturer events spread across the 10 days.
They include ‘webinars’ (online seminars), virtual factory tours, online presentations and Q&As, plus ‘Manufacturers Live’ and ‘Apprentices Live’ online events. All are designed to give young people a taste of what it’s like to work in the manufacturing sector, along with information on how to get their rewarding careers started.
Acorn Stairlifts was founded in Bradford in 1992 and although our sustained growth later meant a move out of the city itself, we are still firmly rooted in the Bradford Metropolitan District. We have manufacturing plants at Shipley and Steeton, building straight and curved rails for our award-winning stairlifts. Our UK head offices are also located on a business park at Steeton, next door to our bustling factory.
In fact, Acorn is now a global business – the world’s biggest company dedicated solely to the manufacture, sale, installation and maintenance of home stairlifts. We have operations throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and North America, where Acorn is the established brand leader. Somewhere in the world an Acorn Stairlift is fitted every eight minutes, and all those stairlifts are manufactured here in the UK.
That’s why we’re so keen to be involved with Bradford Manufacturing Weeks and other similar events which support and promote British manufacturing. We’re also proud to be a member of Made in Britain, a national organisation which unites and promotes the British manufacturing community.
Acorn Stairlifts was chosen to officially launch Bradford Manufacturing Weeks 2020 and is taking part in several of its online events over the fortnight. Our Manufacturing Manager, Andrew Longthorne (pictured), has also created a video highlighting some of the processes at our Steeton factory, which produces stairlift rail sections for our pioneering FastTrack® curved stairlift system.
You can see the video yourself by clicking here. Acorn’s patented FastTrack® modular rail system means we can design and build a bespoke curved stairlift rail in your home in just a few hours, instead of waiting weeks for a one-off rail to be made in a factory. It is just one of the industry-leading innovations which have helped make Acorn a world-leader in home stairlifts and a global flag bearer for British manufacturing.
• For more information about Bradford Manufacturing Weeks 2020, click here.