An industrial chain supplier is bringing chain manufacture to Britain in a drive to put the UK back on the map for the manufacture of high quality chain.

Bob Wellsbury, managing director of Donghua Limited, has worked in the chain industry for over 30 years and wants to see the UK manufacturing high quality chain again.

The UK arm of the Hangzhou Donghua Chain Group, which Wellsbury heads up, was created in 2009 and has doubled its turnover year on year to become one of the country’s leading chain suppliers.

One of the reasons for its success says the company, is Donghua only sells direct to OEMs and distributors, unlike other chain manufacturers who also sell to end-users which undermines the distributor’s place in the market.

Wellsbury says: “It’s important to support our UK network of dealers and our company ethos has always been to never sell direct, but rather promote our products via our dealers for local supply. Designing products specifically for distribution, such as our Universal Attachment chain which we are now building in the UK, means that dealers are able to offer their own customers greater choice and enhanced availability. It’s a win-win situation for Donghua and we consider our dealer network as an extension of our own sales team.”

Wellsbury has spent the last year investing in the production of bespoke Attachment Chain in the UK and the expansion of a technical workshop in the heart of the Black Country which has a long tradition of metalworking. The introduction of UK manufacturing provides Donghua’s customers with greater choice and reduced delivery times.

There are only a few manufacturers who can boast such technical capabilities direct in the UK and Donghua is now looking for larger premises to cope with customer demand. Interest in Donghua’s UK production is steadily growing helping Wellsbury to realise his dream of bringing chain manufacture back to the UK.