A STALYBRIDGE shopfitting firm is celebrating 20 years in business and establishing itself as one of the best in its trade.
Walk into the plushest office possible and you may wonder, ‘Where did all this come from?’
The chances are the answer is Apex Shopfitting and if longevity is a sign of quality, two decades in business is testament to it.
Managing director Martin Stanley has been there since before day one. It was his idea to set up the firm, which is based at Cheetham’s Mill on Park Street.
And seeing the business – which specialises in reception areas, breakout zones and shared spaces – grow into one employing more than 30 staff, working with some of the biggest contractors around, is a huge source of pride.
He said: “It was my idea, kind of, when I was 32-years-old and had two small children. My son was five then. Now he’s 25 and works here now.
“I stated with a business partner and after he left, we’ve expanded the company into the commercial side, rather than just the public side.
“We decided to move away from the traditional joinery we were doing, like your windows and stairs, and moved more into the office side of things.
“We’re bespoke joinery manufacturers, mainly concentrating on business interiors and working with the likes of On The Beach, Double Eleven, Epic Games – that size of company and scale of office.
“We manufacture anything from the reception desk to banquet seating and screens – anything that’s bespoke in an office, that’s us.
“If you can buy it off a shelf, that’s not us.
“We now have a manufacturing facility, five units in the mill’s courtyard. We started with one and the landlord’s been absolutely fantastic over the years as we managed to expand and take over the adjacent units.
“And we’re constantly expanding year on year, new machinery, more staff, more vehicles.
“We’ve progressed because of clients knowing what you do then moving to another company – we work mainly for main contractors, we don’t really work directly for the end user.
“Main contractors have the machinery and the workshop but they use our skills. Now we work for the majority of the main ones in the north west but we work from the bottom of the country to the top of Scotland.
“We can be anywhere from Edinburgh to London. We have eight teams on sites around the country at any one time.”
Being such a success in Stalybridge and working around the country, there may have been a temptation for Apex Shopfitting to move out.
Not a chance. Dukinfield-based Martin knows where home is and it has helped generate that family feel which has seen staff remain from when the firm was formed.
He added: “Stalybridge is the only branch and we haven’t been tempted to move because the majority of our staff come from Tameside.
“They come and don’t leave – Nick joined us 20 years ago, we’d been up and running two months and he was my apprentice at the last place we worked.
“But I knew of his skills and asked him to join. Now he’s progressed to being project manager.
“Lisa, who does our accounts, joined on the first day. There was just two of us when we started and it’s built up from there.
“It’s been very, very tough. The first 15 years are the hardest!
“Getting paid by clients can be hard, as well as making sure you don’t go running before you can walk.
“We still have or feet on the ground now. If someone’s doing silly hours, I’ll do silly hours with him. You’ve got to keep everyone working together.
“I love what I do, it’s a passion. If I did step away, it would only be for a day a week – I’ll still do Saturdays!
“But I couldn’t do this without the team. I always say it’s a big team effort, it’s not me.
“It’s everybody, from the bottom to the top, everyone’s treated the same and is looked after, I hope they think the same.”
Apex Shopfitting is based at Cheetham’s Mill on Park Street in Stalybridge and can be found at www.apexshopfitting.co.uk/.
You can contact them on 0161 338 8252.
I work with some of your teams and they are brilliant sets of lads who no there stuff and pleasure to work with ..