Haith Tickhill is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of packhouse and root crop handling machinery, employing more than 100 people, but the company started on a more modest scale.

Back in 1944 Geoff Haith gave up his job as a mechanical and electrical engineer to start a farm machinery repair and maintenance service near Doncaster, Yorkshire. Based in an old stone building on his father’s smallholding, he worked on a wide range of equipment including potato and vegetable machinery.

The repair work made Mr Haith aware of design faults in some equipment, and by 1964 he was using his engineering skill and experience to make machines for local farms. His products were successful and manufacturing soon outgrew the repair work, and it also outgrew the original workshop, forcing a move to bigger premises – the first of three moves as the business expanded.

Being in an important area for root and vegetable crops created a demand for specialised machinery. Geoff Haith’s successes included washing and handling equipment and some of his early machines, such as Haith flume destoners, are still in use. Local sales success with machines for root crops and vegetables soon became national and then international, and about 40% of this year’s turnover is from exports.

Packhouse equipment has the biggest share of Haith sales, but recent successes with machinery used by farmers include their Root Veg Polishing machine, box fillers and handlers plus mobile graders.

The awards they have won are evidence of the company’s success. They include two RASE silver medals, two RASE new equipment awards, a LAMMA new machinery award and an RASE Burke Trophy for an outstanding contribution to farm machinery. Their biggest prize came in 2009 when they won a Queen’s Award to Industry for innovation.

The awards highlight one of the reasons for the company’s success, says managing director, Nigel Haith. Product development is one of their top priorities, producing a flow of new and improved machines. Another factor, he explained, is the reputation for machine quality established by Geoff Haith when he started the business, which brings repeat orders and a high level of customer loyalty.

“We also have the advantage that this remains a family business. My father had five sons and two daughters and we all work in the company, but Geoff’s policy was to insist that we started at the bottom, sweeping the floors and then doing different jobs in the factory. This means we are familiar with production processes and everyone working in the factory knows we have done similar jobs.”

The future outlook is bright, says Nigel Haith. The company will remain under family control, he says, with some of the next generation already working in the factory and starting at the bottom as their parents did. Investment in product developments means new machines are in the pipeline and there are opportunities for growth in the UK and overseas.

Fact File

Company: Haith Tickhill Group; HQ: Armthorpe, Doncaster, Yorkshire; Owned by: Haith family; Employees: 110; Group turnover: £13.5m

Principal products: Grading, washing, weighing and handling machinery for potatoes and other root crops, vegetable handling systems, robotics, water treatment systems and a used equipment company.