Why this Cleckheaton company is at the cutting edge of diversity

Around half of the 90 staff employed by Cutwel, which is a distributor of engineering cutting tools and machine tool accessories, are female.

Cutwel’s CEO Adam Gillard said the company had developed a culture of empowering staff to help it grow. The company, which is based in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, has enjoyed significant expansion since it secured investment from Northedge Capital in 2018.

Mr Gillard said Cutwel had been on a huge recruitment drive over the last 18 months, growing from 50 staff to more than 90.

He added: “We have more than 11,000 active end user customers who have bought from Cutwel in the last year.”

Turnover has grown from £15m to £21m since the management buyout, which was supported by NorthEdge Capital.

Mr Gillard said NorthEdge focuses on the long term and re-invests profit for future growth.

He added: “Cutwel has invested more over the last two years than it did over the previous 10 years. The company has a huge focus on empowering its employees and the wider team.

“Cutwel prefers to develop rather than poach staff,” he added. “Of the 90 staff only one has worked for a competitor before.”

Mr Gillard said the firm typically hires from the local area, including school leavers from Kirklees and Bradford.

It also uses social media to attract new staff. Mr Gillard said the firm’s biggest supplier was based in South Korea, although the coronavirus pandemic had not affected the company at all to date.

Mr Gillard said the biggest potential impact on Cutwel would be if coronavirus leads to a reduction in the numbers of people buying manufactured goods.

This could reduce demand from Cutwel’s end customers in the engineering sector.

He hopes the company will have grown to become the second largest firm in the cutting tool distribution market in the UK within five years.