The Winkworth Group take on Placement Students

The Winkworth Group’s commitment to encourage young people in industry and commerce has resulted in the company taking on two students on placements.



Jessica Holt, who is studying for a BA (Hons) Business Studies degree at Bournemouth University, is joining us on a one-year marketing placement. She will be based in Winkworth’s sales office and will have the opportunity to practise the skills she has learned within a professional context.

Jessica will be expected to work on various marketing activities, which include developing our internal systems, compiling a database, research etc., but she will also be helping out in other areas of the business from time to time in order to gain a broad depth of experience.



Douglas Cave will be joining Winkworth on an industrial placement for six weeks this summer.

He will be working on the re-writing of a mechanical design program in the sales department. This is a very specialised project and he will be working mainly with Winkworth’s Technical Sales Engineer, Perry Gray.

Feast Your Eyes on our latest Website!

BPT Skerman, part of the Winkworth Group, now has a brand new website! It features 90 unique pages; it’s easy to navigate, functional, flexible and we think it’s aesthetically appealing for our customers and potential customers.

The new website has new navigation labels and dropdown menus to help users find the full range of batch processing equipment and systems on offer for the food, pharmaceutical, chemical, toiletries and cosmetics and confectionery industries. New user-friendly search facilities have been brought in to enable users to search for the most suitable equipment by applications or by industry.

A highlight of the new website entitled “I need help with...” features a list of nearly 40 alphabetically arranged phrases, to instantly connect a prospective customer with the best matched equipment for their activity, e.g. griddling, braising, emulsifying or homogenising.

The new website also includes BPT Skerman’s expanded brand range which incorporates Premier Colloid Mixers and since 2004, Ystral (UK & Eire agency) range of disperser/homogenisers.

But don’t take our word for it - take a look a look for yourself at www.bptskerman.co.uk

The Winkworth Group are Runners-Up in Food Processing Awards

Luminaries of the food processing world gathered at the Hinckley Island Hotel in Leicestershire for what has become widely regarded as the “Oscars” of the food and beverage industry.

We were one of four companies shortlisted in the category “Company of the Year” in the Food Processing Awards and were up against some stiff competition. The result, when it was announced, caused a pang of disappointment, but nevertheless we’re really pleased with the achievement of having got onto the shortlist.

The winners were Festo, worldwide suppliers of automation technology to the food and drink industry and we’d like to offer our congratulations to them.

“As the saying goes: Close, but no cigar. But to have gained selection to the final four in such a hotly contested category was both an honour and testament to the skill, resourcefulness, effort and attitude of our entire workforce.”

Winkworth’s MD in Wonderland!

He looks like the (Cheshire) cat that got the cream – but for our Managing Director, Grant Jamieson, it was all in the line of duty.

Grant was sampling a “taste of Wonderland” at IFE, the largest gathering of international food and drink suppliers.

From big brand suppliers to local and regional producers, exhibitors from around the world took the opportunity to showcase their products at ExCel, in London’s Docklands.

Representing the Winkworth Group, Grant visited some of the 1,100 exhibitors, including the promotional stand of The Mad Hatter Tea Company, and indulged in a spot of theatricals with “Alice.”

The mantra of the Yorkshire-based company is to put the spotlight on a quality beverage that simply revives the spirit, enriches the mood and adds peppiness and cheerfulness to the substance of life.

“Job done,” according to Grant, who added: “It was a tough job, but someone had to do it!”

Winners Announced in Winkworth’s Always Mixing All Ways Award

The waiting is finally over and we are pleased to be able to announce the winner and runners-up of our 2010 Always Mixing All Ways Award.

Our competition attracted a great response and the entries revealed an accumulation of hundreds of years of Winkworth mixing expertise throughout the UK.

The overall winner of our search to find our longest-serving Winkworth mixer still in use in the UK today is a world leader in the manufacture of high voltage ceramic carbon linear resistors, HVR International Ltd, based in Jarrow, Tyne & Wear.

In September 1979, HVR International invested in a Winkworth Laboratory Z blade (LABZ) with a 10-litre working volume and it’s still in regular use for evaluating formulations and characteristics of new raw materials.

The first prize of a luxury weekend for two and a commemorative Winkworth Mixer trophy were handed over to Company Technical Director, Kevin McLaughlin by Winkworth’s Managing Director, Grant Jamieson.

Afterwards Mr McLaughlin said they were delighted to win the Award and commented: “The market is driving us to use Winkworth Z blades in order to give us control over the properties we require for production.

“I strongly feel that we have had excellent service from Winkworth over the years. They are like us in our marketplace – they believe in very good customer service.”

Four runners-up were selected to each receive restaurant meals for two. They were the following companies:

Fox’s Confectionery, of Braunstone, Leicestershire
Christeyns UK Ltd, of Bradford, West Yorkshire
CeramTec UK, of Colyton, Devon
Sylmasta UK, of Scaynes Hill, West Sussex

We were delighted with the level of interest that competing companies showed, and Grant Jamieson clocked up more than 1500 miles by personally handing over the awards and seeing the various mixers in situ.

He said: “It was inspiring and encouraging to journey the length and breadth of the country and see these Winkworth mixers still delivering unbeatable results in a variety of applications. There's no doubt that mixing in our Winkworth mixers has become a strategic component of their success. With very low whole life cost of ownership they have a compelling competitive advantage, which they continue to exploit.

“When making investments in capital equipment we recognise initial price is always a factor and often it's difficult for companies’ accounting systems to allow the 'whole life cost arguments'; however what we can see here is, those who do , are successful and here at Winkworth we're very proud to be a part of their success.”

Happy Mixmas! – TV Appearance for Winkworth Mixer

Keen-eyed viewers will have spotted a Winkworth mixer during a special festive episode of Jimmy’s Food Factory on BBC One.

Programme presenter, farmer Jimmy Docherty, could be seen beside the control panel of a U Trough Mixer Model UT1000 as it was ready to begin the mixing process of mincemeat ingredients.

The Winkworth Group are proud to have supplied machinery to Fourayes Farm, a Kent-based company, which is a major supplier of mincemeat to UK food manufacturers.

During the segment of the programme which focused on mince pies, Jimmy Docherty was seen standing by the Winkworth UT1000, discussing the importance of the mixing of ingredients, with Fourayes Farm’s Business Development Manager, Andy Stokes.

Winkworth’s UT mixers which range in size from 25 litre to 11,500 litre working volume, contain innovative features to provide faster, improved mixing and cleansing.

Fourayes Farm, which is one of the UK’s largest growers and processors of Bramley apples, has more than 30 hectares of orchards and processes over 11,000 tonnes of Bramleys annually.

Lights, Camera, Action For Winkworth at Westminster

Our Managing Director, Grant Jamieson has been sampling video stardom at Westminster after being asked to record his opinions on business opportunities in modern-day China. Grant was attending the Processing and Packaging Machinery Association’s President’s Lunch held in The Churchill Room at the Houses of Parliament.

He was approached to participate in a promotional video for the PPMA, to comment on its many activities including the “Chinese Dragon Service.”

The video is due to be released in time for Spring 2011 and will focus on the PPMA’s membership benefits.

Grant was able to talk about Winkworth’s recently-opened office in Shanghai, China’s industrial powerhouse, and the appointment of our China Office Manager, Peter Wang.

“Winkworth's belief in the opportunities in China has led to Winkworth embracing China and the China office being established,” he said. “As a UK-based designer and manufacturer we need a positive, relevant and new perspective - we should encompass China as our friend.”

“My feedback on the video was all very positive as Winkworth have already made sales and delivered machinery from ' a standing start ' there last summer," he added.

The lunch was attended by the PPMA’s current president, Alan Yates and hosted by the PPMA’s Chief Executive, Chris Buxton.

About 100 guests attended including the PPMA China Office Manager, Craig Chen and the Vice-Mayor of Tongxiang City, Zhou Min.

During the event there were presentations focusing on “Harnessing the Power of the Chinese Dragon,” and guests were able to take a guided tour of the Palace of Westminster, courtesy of Tom Brake, Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton & Wallington, who was the PPMA’s sponsor.