Abrasive products Swift & Whitmore secures grants to boost exports and sustainability goals

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The UK’s last remaining manufacturer of resin bonded abrasives is looking to boost its export sales and ‘green’ its performance after securing nearly 10,000 pounds of grants.

Swift & Whitmore, which supplies more than 200 different abrasive products to customers in aerospace, automotive, oil and gas and heavy engineering, has tapped into support from Business Growth West Midlands (BGWM) in Dudley to help it target 8 million pounds sales and decarbonise its operations. The company has just completed installing energy efficiency lighting throughout its Halesowen HQ thanks to financial support from Dudley Council’s DNZ programme. Additionally, the local authority has also issued a near 7,500 pounds productivity grant to assist with upgrading its stores and logistics department.

This funding, part of a larger 50,000 pound investment drive, has been spent on the purchase of a Greenpower Eco electric forklift truck that has a far longer range and is easier to charge.

Janette Tierney, Managing Director of Swift & Whitmore, commented: “BGWM in Dudley has been a fantastic source of advice, guidance and financial support and has put us in a strong position to defy economic uncertainty and increase sales in 2025. The installation of the new lighting and a forklift truck will help us become more sustainable in our processes and, importantly, will also deliver cost savings in the long-term. We’re now planning to take another person on in logistics, which will take our total workforce in the Black Country and our Chesterfield manufacturing operation to 50.”

Swift & Whitmore’s industrial reach spans pretty much every industry and product imaginable, with its grinders, hot pressed wheels, diamond grinding wheels and coated abrasives used by customers in the UK and across the globe. As well as being the only domestic manufacturer of resin bonded grinding wheels, the firm is also an independent supplier of other world leading brands, meaning it can turn orders around within a matter of weeks.

Janette continued: “The support from Business Growth West Midlands in Dudley started with an energy audit by specialists Pro Enviro and this identified several areas where we could reduce our energy consumption whilst also improving our operations in Halesowen. We then worked with Business Growth Adviser Steve Dunn on how we make some of these happen and he talked us through the grants available and what we needed to do to get them. This would have been a fairly difficult process, but he made it so easy, helping with cashflow forecasts and our carbon calculations.”

She went on to add: “I couldn’t recommend the service highly enough. It has helped us bring forward two projects by about six months and, importantly, we are now tapping into export advice to look at where we can build our international presence.”

Business Growth West Midlands in Dudley, which is funded by Dudley Council via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, is supporting more than 600 companies based in the borough with advice from local business growth advisers. Run by Oxford Innovation Advice, the initiative delivers an information, diagnostic, brokerage, and account management service to support local businesses to thrive, innovate, and grow, whilst also supporting entrepreneurs to progress their business ideas. A special focus is placed on helping firms in key local sectors and engaging with harder to reach groups, such as women-led and ethnic minority-led businesses.

Steve Dunn, Business Growth Adviser, picked up the story: “Swift & Whitmore is a national manufacturing treasure, and I’m delighted that BGWM in Dudley has been able to help it unlock environmental improvements and set it up for new jobs and growth in 2025. The recent ‘Made in Dudley, Sold to the World’ event was a great taste of the export opportunities available to Janette and the team and we are now talking with the International Trade Team at the Department for Business and Trade and the WMCA’s Supply Chain Transition Programme to make some of them happen.”

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