Heritage

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Heritage

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Now in its 50th year, Preformed Windings has a long heritage in the industry of coil manufacturing and continues to maintain its excellent reputation in global markets.  Following the acquisition of Preformed Windings by Highgate Capital in 2020 the business continues to grow and support it’s global customer base of leading OEM’s and independent repair facilities.

1968 – Preformed Windings was founded by Basil Jarn, Ken Widdowson and Chris Athorn in a residential garage, primarily making low voltage coils. That same year, the partners bought a high street shop in Beighton on the outskirts of Sheffield. The ground floor and first floor was converted into workshops for producing small sized high voltage coils with hot pressed cells, they mainly served the coal industry.

1976 – Further expansion was soon required so another empty workshop was bought in Hackenthorpe, which was previously an old bakery. In 1976, an additional 4000 sqft extension was added to the premises which incorporated a pair of 10 ton cranes to dismantle, manufacture new coils, rewind and refit large electric machines.

1988 – The business was sold to a UK engineering company which was soon taken over by a large electrical engineering group, and a decision was made to remove the coil rewind and fitting process and concentrate the whole business on producing high voltage coils.

2000 (mid) – Continued change when the electrical engineering group which resold UK engineering company to a group of business partners. The new business was renamed, and its core capabilities was in the repair and maintenance of rotating machines, from servo motors to aerospace equipment, including machine tools, induction equipment and HV coils. The high voltage business was then sold to allow the company to focus on their asset management repairs business.

2009 – Another extension was added to the Hackenthorpe building, taking the premises to a total of 9000 sqft. The customer industrial base had grown to include many diverse industries, including nuclear power, conventional power, hydropower, upstream and downstream oil & gas, rail, metals and marine & port industries.

2014 – Parsons Peebles Group purchased Preformed Windings. The company was now well positioned to develop the product range, manufacturing systems and capacity. Demand for HV coils tripled and prompted a 2016 move to a brand new custom facility in Rotherham.

2020 – Following substantial growth of the business over the last 5 years, in June 2020 Highgate Capital purchased Preformed Windings. Highgate Capital recognised the potential of the business, it’s clear value propositions (Quality, Service, Speed), the loyal global customer base and the strong technical ability of the team and are committed to realising the businesses full potential as an independent coil manufacturing expert.