Back in June 1984; when “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” by Wham! topped the UK charts; David Smith was starting up a small polythene manufacturing company situated in rented premises in Dean Clough, Halifax.
It was the 7th of the month and it was his 9th wedding anniversary. He married Julie in 1975, and the first extrusion of film was done on opening day. Little did he know that this was the beginning of a journey that, thirty years on; would see his business become a family run, global hit.
With three decades of dedication to innovation, product development, manufacturing and business systems, today A-Safe are well and truly a British manufacturing success story.
“The company started life as A-Fax, and I’d worked for several large film manufacturing companies before that, always feeling that I could offer a better service if I set up my own firm.” David explained.
A-Fax started well, and within four years they’d added stretch wrap extrusion to their bow. Business prospered.
But it wasn’t long before disaster struck. In 1989 A-Fax was dealt a huge blow when localised flash-flooding badly damaged the factory, and every piece of machinery in the company needed to be replaced. The setback cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds, and an urgent rebuilding exercise needed to take place.
In ’89, Gerry Marsden and other Liverpool artists were at number one on June 7th, with a charity release of his 60’s hit “Ferry ‘Cross the Mersey”.
Hard work and determination meant that David got the firm back up on its feet again quickly, and in 1992 A-Fax adopted the skills of profile extrusion and the recycling of scrap film to produce plastic cores (that were used to wrap stretch film around).
After ten years, they’d out grown Dean Clough, and they moved to new premises on Shay Lane in Halifax in 1994. On 7th June 1995, when Robson & Jerome were at number one with “Unchained Melody” the first extrusion pipe went in to the new factory, and business boomed.
They were always looking for the next business growth area though, and it wasn’t long before the company moved into making bespoke plastic pallets. They had the patent for the “Rivlock” granted in 2000, and one order of note came from Coca Cola in Entrea, Africa, where 10,000 units were bought.
Sonique was at number one in this year as A-Fax celebrated its first post-millennium birthday on 7th June. “Feel So Good” held top spot for three weeks.
But it didn’t feel so good for the Halifax firm, as the success of the plastic pallet venture wasn’t going to break the bank: “We recognised that with bespoke plastic pallets, we were always struggling against the price of wooden pallets.” David said.
So, as was becoming the norm for A-Fax, they moved swiftly again, inventing ‘interlocking’ of plastic. It was then that they realised that they could take the design of the plastic pallet and evolve it to create fence, which later became a safety barrier system which was competitive compared metal systems.
They produced the “Flexi Barrier” prototype in 2002, and the first major order of the product came a year later. Alcan Packaging buying the first ever flexible pedestrian barrier for their site in Midsummer Norton, whilst Will Young lit up the charts on A-Fax’s 18th birthday with “Light My Fire”.
The safety barrier trade was the way the business would go, and as it grew, they re-branded the firm to A-Safe in 2005 – the name that’s on everyone’s lips in the safety industry today.
That year the song at the top of the charts as the company turned 21 was on everyone’s lips (although probably not by choice!) and it was Crazy Frog’s “Axel F”.
What’s so good about a safety barrier? What stands A-Safe out from other safety barriers? Two questions everyone asks until they see it in action and see the benefits an A-Safe barrier brings.
Firstly, it doesn’t dent or crumple when it gets hit. Its unique built-in memory means it’s flexible, and returns to its original shape after impact. As a result, it doesn’t need to be replaced, and doesn’t tear from the ground – so someone who chooses A-Safe also chooses to minimise their floor damage repair costs. As far as safety barriers go it’s an incredible product, and probably the only safety barrier around with a genuine ‘wow’ factor!
Since the launch as A-Safe, business has grown rapidly and David and his sons James and Luke have continuously brought new products on to the scene, and listened to customers to ensure what they put on the market suited their needs.
2006 saw a major milestone in A-Safe’s history, as they worked with Heathrow airport to produce a flexible barrier that met the strict standards needed in airports. A-Safe developed the Atlas barrier, which exceeded the standards, and later Gatwick airport were to install this barrier throughout its North and South baggage handling halls. The innovation behind the flexibility of the product meant that Gatwick ended up slashing repair damage costs from over £100,000 per year, to just £3000 over a three year period.
They launched their own installation service in 2007, a service that’s preferred by the majority of its satisfied customers. With new products being added to the range all the time, 2010 saw A-Safe supply and install their safety barrier system to blue chip companies such as Kimberley Clark, DHL, Coca-Cola, and Toyota.
There was a need to satisfy customers all over the globe and A-Safe GmbH in Germany was set up in 2010 as the first of now 10 global A-Safe offices around the world that include the USA, France, Italy, Scandinavia and Australia.
As their 30th birthday approaches, a dance tune called “I Wanna Feel” by Second City is sat at number one in the charts.
And other companies surely wanna feel how A-Safe feel today. Their world-wide status was confirmed this year, as they were crowned winners of a Queens Award for International Trade.
David said: “The development of the firm has come about through a combination of innovation and pure luck! The future of A-Safe is extremely positive. We are going from strength to strength and with the foreign exports business developing rapidly we are confident of continuing to be everyone’s number one for the next 30 years.”
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