In celebration of Lydwood’s 60 years of trading, we spoke with MD Emma Jones to discuss the company’s legacy as a third-generation family business, the extensive expertise and machinery that facilitate its high-quality output, and her plans to drive the business forward within an ever more competitive arena ...
It’s always gratifying to see businesses pass from generation to generation, each new proprietor bringing fresh ideas and a new perspective to the table. Established in 1964, Lydwood has passed through three generations, building a firm reputation and a widely-respected breadth of expertise over the course of its 60 years of trading.
Lydwood was the brainchild of Bob Jones, whose love of machinery drove him to swap a career teaching engineering in a local school, cash in his pension, and build a factory in Lydbrook, Gloucestershire. In 1987, Robert’s son Nick and his wife, Georgie, joined the family business, adding a new dimension – CNC Routing. As talented engineering graduates with backgrounds in aerospace, they were able to introduce state-of-the-art production technology into the woodworking field.
Pictured: Emma Jones, MD
Today, the company is managed by Emma Jones, a qualified Mechanical Engineer whose passion, technical expertise and entrepreneurialism have seen the business grow by an impressive 300%.
“My grandfather started out making cedar home extensions and one-off production runs, such as one-armed bandit machines,” Emma explains. “The business then became very focused on shields and trophies. Despite being destroyed by fire in 1979, by 1986, the company was producing around 10,000 shields and trophies per week for the UK’s trophy industry.
“My father, Nick, was very early into CNC routing, which opened many doors and avenues of potential work. As a result, the business moved more into being a contract manufacturer of wooden components, primarily for other manufacturers.
“Although the customer base has changed significantly since the early 1990s, that remains the core of the business. However, as CNC routers have become cheaper and more accessible from a technical perspective since that time, our CNC routing work has shifted to be more tailored to the unique capabilities of our routers and the combination of services we can provide.”
Pictured: Emma’s father, Nick, stood with Lydwood’s first CNC router in 1989
Taking on such a legacy from her grandfather and parents is, naturally, a great source of pride for Emma, whose interest in the industry was sparked in early childhood.
“I have been interested in engineering from a young age – with engineers for parents and growing up around motorbikes, cars and traction engines!” she says. “I studied Mechanical Engineering at Cardiff University and spent a year working as a Junior Design Engineer at Williams Advanced Engineering. WAE was the sister company to Williams Formula 1 team, applying F1 technology to a range of different problems. I worked on a range of projects, from electric car platforms through to a BAE Systems Hawk flight simulator.
“After graduating from Cardiff with a First Class degree, I secured a position as a Fuel and Hydraulics design engineer at Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team. There, I learned about complex design work, but also top-level industrial processes around production, quality, reliability and problem-solving. I enjoyed some fantastic experiences at Mercedes, including being on the wheel gun in practice pit stops and celebrating two double world championship wins, but found my desire for entrepreneurship was left unfulfilled.
“During the COVID pandemic, in the summer of 2020, while on holiday in the pouring rain in North Wales, it suddenly occurred to me that Lydwood might present such an opportunity and that my parents were getting older and had no succession plan. I suggested the idea of taking on Lydwood to my parents – expecting a reply of “Are you crazy?” – but they were very receptive to it. I became Managing Director of Lydwood in July 2021. Three years as MD have flown past, and I am pleased to say that the business has grown over 300% since I joined!”
Emma’s fresh approach to marketing and her innate ability to help customers with product development have catapulted Lydwood into a new phase of growth. Winning new contracts and investing in machinery have been integral to its success, with Emma’s partner Peter joining this year to assist with Lydwood’s continued development.
“Today, our capabilities include our design expertise – helping our customers to develop wooden products to be as technically sound as possible while accounting for the quirks of using timber and also being cost-effective to manufacture; routing with our “copy-head” routers, which enable us to machine up to six identical components at a time, or drill up to six holes at a time at custom hole centres; edge-banding with our automatic edge-bander; processing of solid timber from live-edged boards through to finished components; laminating capability with edge and face presses and a depth of expertise with adhesives for indoor and outdoor applications; and sanding and spraying,” Emma tells us.
“We are, therefore, a broad church, from making simple components such as unseen furniture panels and plywood packaging for industry, to complex laminated oak products for external use and children’s furniture in plywood. Bespoke point-of-sale display stands in edge-banded chipboard have also become a significant part of our business – we have applied more than 5 miles of edge banding tape in the last three months!
“We are seeing a pushback from overseas production and also an increase in the appeal of wooden products, rather than plastic alternatives, to offer lower embedded carbon solutions.”
Pictured: Hydraulic Taylor Press for volume edge laminating
The primary factors in Lydwood’s longevity and success for the past six decades appear to be its ability to generate unique solutions to customers’ problems, utilising a depth and breadth of technical expertise and an impressive fleet of machinery and tools. Next, its ability to build trust with its customers through reliable quality and service delivery. And finally, a drive to invest in both its equipment and its people.
As ever, it is the people behind the brand that truly shape and drive its progress. Lydwood’s founder, Bob, certainly laid the foundations of the brand’s entrepreneurial spirit, as well as its strong relationship with its customers.
“Although I met my grandfather, I didn’t know him well as he died in 1998 when I was only 2,” Emma says. “However, I have heard many stories about him and greatly admire his bravery and entrepreneurship in leaving teaching to start Lydwood in 1964. There are many reminders of my grandfather’s time here, and one of his first employees still lives in the village. I hope that he would be pleased that I have taken on the business.
“It is a great privilege but also a lot of responsibility. Both my grandfather and my parents made a success of Lydwood – serving customers and providing meaningful employment for dozens of people in the community.”
Under Emma’s leadership, the future is looking bright for Lydwood. Against the backdrop of an industry under increasing pressure from regulation, as well as transport, labour and energy costs, she has a strong strategy in place to drive the business forward.
“I’ve been fortunate to work with Goldman Sachs on their 10,000 Small Businesses Programme alongside the business schools at Oxford University and Aston University to develop a business growth plan,” she explains. “Despite our 300% growth in the last three years, our machine utilisation remains modest. In the shorter term, we plan to gradually build up the customer base, improve our internal process, hire new team members and train and upskill our existing team.
“We wish to develop the business to become very well diversified across sectors and to continue to provide a reliable and high-quality supply chain and well-engineered timber-based solutions.”
With a considered plan in place and an exceptional team, here’s to the next phase of growth and many more years of trading for Lydwood.
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