The Gledhill family has accepted an offer of an undisclosed sum for the Gledhill Group companies from Groupe Atlantic which is also a family owned company based in France, with manufacturing plants all over Europe and Asia.
Gledhill has been a leading supplier of hot water storage vessels in the UK since the Second World War.
The UK cylinder market is changing dramatically, but the need for storage is required more so than ever. Starting out as a copper cylinder manufacturer, now with nine manufacturing and distribution depots throughout the UK, Gledhill more recently expanded into a state-of-the-art manufacturer of duplex stainless steel cylinders from its Blackpool manufacturing plant, Gledhill boasts one of the widest ranges of cylinder products in the UK.
As pioneers of many new developments, Gledhill was the first to produce a stainless vented cylinder which is price competitive against copper cylinders, and we have developed a significant advantage through the way we manufacture our unvented offering.
In addition, the unique manufacturing of copper in our nine locations provides unprecedented service to our customers and the opportunity to expand in wider specialist copper products. Finally, our ability in stainless manufacture for higher pressures provides a great opportunity on a world stage to export and we have already secured successes in Australasia and European markets.
Groupe Atlantic has more than 5,500 employees worldwide with a turnover in excess of €1.3 billion, having 19 factories across Europe and distributing products to over 100 countries. Having recently made acquisitions in the UK in the form of Hamworthy Boilers and more latterly, Ideal Boilers, their commitment to becoming market leader in heating products for the UK provides a very exciting platform for our development.
The security and on-going employment of our teams is essential for our future success. Jason Hobson will take over as managing director for the Gledhill Group (comprising Gledhill Building Products, Gledhill Response, Gledhill Spares and Gledhill International) supported by Tricia Holland as commercial director, reporting directly into Shaun Edwards, the UK Group Atlantic CEO.
All the present board members, including the Gledhill family, will continue in management roles and are committed to the on-going success of Gledhill, and are looking forward to developing the business under the new ownership of Groupe Atlantic.
The chairman and co-founder of the company Houghton Gledhill said: “My brother and I are delighted that another family business has acquired ours so that together we can go from strength to strength!”