Receiver goes in at Stanhay Webb

By FWi staff

LATEST victim of the downturn in machinery sales is the Suffolk based precision seed drill specialist, Stanhay Webb.

The company has called in the receiver, and a buyer is being sought to take the company over as a going concern.

Stanhay Webb can trace its history at Exning, Newmarket for more than 125 years, but the companys biggest success came during the last 20 years with a series of major breakthroughs in precision seeding technology.

It built up successful export markets in more than 60 countries, and won a series of major awards including the Royal Agricultural Societys Burke Trophy and a gold medal award, plus a Queens Award for Technology.

The company was sold in 1999, when Colin Love became the chief executive and major shareholder.

A spokesman for the receiver said Stanhay Webb had already attracted a number of serious inquiries from both UK and overseas companies, and they were optimistic that a new owner would be found.

“Stanhay Webb has an 80-year history and world-wide reputation as a manufacturer of quality equipment,” says joint receiver Simon Bower of RSM Robson Rhodes.

“We will endeavour to keep the business trading while seeking a purchaser.”

Mr Bower blames the companys financial situation on a drop in sales caused by bad weather in Britain and other markets, and the strength of Sterling which has hit margins as well as demand from overseas.