At Spinks, environmental integrity is crucial in what we do, helping us to protect the world we live in for future generations. We understand the importance of minimising our carbon emissions throughout all of our manufacturing processes, and so are delighted that parent company Harrison Spinks have been awarded a Carbon Neutral+ status, following an assessment by sustainability experts at Carbon Footprint Ltd. We believe we are the only pocket spring manufacturer in the world to achieve Carbon Neutral + status.

Discover the steps we have taken as a business to reduce our carbon emissions:

Wire Drawing

Through our partnership with British Steel, we were able to develop a new grade of steel rod which allows a finer gauge wire than traditional wire drawing methods. This means that spring pads are lighter, resulting in a weight saving of 54% of steel when used in mattress construction, compared to mattresses with standard components. Using finer wire means that less raw material is used, culminating in less carbon emissions in its production and delivery. Furthermore, the wire-drawing line we have opened at the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe has meant that any waste from the process can be immediately recycled on-site, creating closed loop production.

Machinery

Our in-house development team manufacture our own ultra-fast spring machines on site. Due to the unique steel grade, the need for heat treatment has been removed thus saving 70% less power whilst still being faster.

Flexecore®

Flexecore® is our latest pocket spring innovation, which has revolutionised the industry as we know it. Its unique construction has eliminated the use of glue making this a 100% recyclable spring system at the end of its life. Glue is used in traditional pocket spring construction but causes problems with recycling. Mattresses and upholstery that is made with Flexecore® can be taken apart at the end of the products’ life and the components recycled into new items.

John Buckley, Managing Director of Carbon Footprint Ltd said “In these times of climate emergency, Harrison Spinks has taken the responsible step of having a robust measurement of its own green‐house gas emissions completed and energy audits done across its sites. The business has a solid plan in place to reduce its own emissions. Alongside this, they are supporting carbon offset projects that fund solutions to climate change.” These efforts to minimise and offset our carbon emissions have been recognised with not one but two Queen’s Awards for Sustainable Development, and with our new Carbon Neutral+ accreditation we hope to continue championing sustainability in all we do, as well as lead the way for positive change in the industry.

Harrison Spinks and Spinks are delighted to have picked up their third Queen’s Award for Enterprise in less than a year, bringing the total number won to five. After winning awards for Innovation and International Trade in 2018, we are thrilled to announce that we have now been awarded the prestigious award for Sustainable Development in 2019, just one of six companies to have received the award in this category.

The business has been granted the award in recognition of a number of ecologically friendly innovations which have made our products, as well as the process by which they are created, more sustainable. This includes reusing waste from the production process, replacing synthetic materials with natural, recyclable products and reducing CO2. We are constantly striving to be as vertically integrated and sustainable as possible, and are delighted that our efforts have been recognised for the second time, following the 2013 win for the same award.

Simon Spinks, Managing Director of Harrison Spinks, said: “We’re delighted to be granted another Queen’s Award for Enterprise and are honoured that the efforts we’ve made to make our business more sustainable have been recognised.

“We take our responsibility to act sustainably very seriously and we’ve been proud to challenge the market to make beds and mattresses in a different way, avoiding the need to use chemical products like foams that are difficult to recycle.

“We’ve worked hard to diversify our business to become one of the most vertically integrated furniture makers in the UK and this has helped us look at the way we run our business and reduce reliance on non-recyclable materials, waste, energy consumption and CO2.”

Since our 2013 award win, we have continued to drive our sustainable innovation in a number of key areas.

We partnered with British Steel to develop a new grade of steel rod which allows a finer gauge wire than traditional wire drawing methods. This produces lighter spring pads and results in a weight saving of 54% of steel per mattress compared with those with standard components. This reduces transport costs and uses less raw material. The business has also opened a wire-drawing line at British Steel’s plant in Scunthorpe which means that steel waste from the wire drawing process can be immediately recycled on-site, creating closed loop production.

The company has also made various innovations to the way mattresses and their components are made to create more sustainable products that are easier to recycle. This includes development of a machine that makes pocket springs in a way that removes the need for glue. The next big challenge on the horizon is creating a completely recyclable mattress that will reduce the amount of product going to landfill at the end of its life.

• 2019 – The Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development
• 2018 – The Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation
• 2018 – The Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade
• 2013 – The Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development
• 2013 – The Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation

Spinks Springs are pleased to announce the winning of our second export Award. On the 25^th July 2018, Spinks Springs attended a judging day at Furniture Markers’ Hall, London and impressed the judging panel with their international export strategy and considerable export growth in last 3 years.

As part of the Manufacturing Guild Mark, the Export Award was launched in 2016 to recognise excellence in promoting and selling British manufactured furniture, bedding and furnishings to overseas markets. The award considers all aspects of how a business operates, including development initiatives, overseas’ markets penetrated, volumes, growth techniques, long term commitment, and relevant accreditations.

Spinks Springs impressed the judging panel with their development of an international strategy and their continued investment in the people within each new market. The company’s export business has now grown by 500% since 2015, with export sales in 2017/18 reaching £4.89m and accounting for 17% of its sales.

Hayden Davies, Master of The Furniture Makers’ Company, said: “By implementing a clear export strategy, Spinks Springs has quickly positioned itself as a world leader in innovative spring technology and seen subsequent rapid growth. The key when entering new markets is having the expertise to understand the landscape and through the recruitment of agents and undertaking market research within new territories, Spinks Springs has achieved this. We salute the company’s success in flying the flag for British innovation abroad and Harrison Spinks’ ambition to increase turnover to £100m by 2022, aided by the success of its export business.”

Ian Owen, European sales manager at Spinks Springs, said: “We are delighted to have been granted The Furniture Makers’ Company’s Export Award. We feel that this award reflects our commitment to exporting quality components for bedding, furniture and other markets and the hard work of the Spinks Springs team. We’re pleased to see that our strategy of taking patented innovative components into new international markets has been recognised by such an iconic and prestigious body”.

Spinks Springs produce our most innovative mattress springs. Our ultra-fast HD spring machines produce 600 springs per minute, equal to 36,000 per hour. Lightweight, high-density springs have not only allowed us to create unrivalled levels of comfort and support for our mattresses, but have opened new markets such as car seats, running shoes and office chairs.

Harrison Spinks and Spinks Springs are very proud to announce that we have received two prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in 2018. The awards for Innovation and International Trade were announced in the 2018 awards on the 21st of April.

Having previously received Queen’s Awards for Innovation and Sustainable Development in 2013 this makes Harrison Spinks the only bed-maker to receive two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in the same year on two separate occasions, bringing the total awarded to Harrison Spinks to four. Harrison Spinks are one of just eight companies to win more than one award this year and the only organisation from Yorkshire and the Humber to receive two awards in 2018. To win the Innovation Award consecutively in 2013 and 2018 (the awards last for 5 years) just proves the pioneering leadership of the company and its quest to continuously innovate.

Harrison Spinks and Spinks Springs have their own team of on-site engineers who are dedicated to building machinery in-house and coming up with the next generation of innovation.

Simon Spinks, Managing Director of Harrison Spinks said: “To be granted two more Queen’s Awards for Enterprise is a huge honour and reflects the hard work and dedication of the whole Harrison Spinks team.

“As a proud British manufacturer we’re pleased that our place in the international market has been acknowledged by the Queen’s Award for International Trade. We feel that our British values of innovation and quality have set us up for success in a global marketplace.

“Since the company was established in 1840, we have always strived to innovate and go about our business in a slightly different way, whether that be creating new ways to manufacture springs or cultivating our farm so we can grow our own natural fillings. We’re delighted to be recognised by the most prestigious enterprise awards in the UK.”

The 2018 Queen’s Award for Innovation was granted in recognition of our development of novel manufacturing processes for sprung mattresses. Mattress comfort is improved as spring concentration increases, however, technical issues across the bed-making sector have meant that spring density is limited by the gauge of wire used. Harrison Spinks and Spinks Springs have solved a whole series of problems to reduce the diameter of wire used by 30 per cent to 0.7mm, the thinnest wire used in pocket spring technology.

Working in partnership with British Steel, a unique grade of steel has been developed, along with a refined drawing process to create the required wire. Harrison Spinks and Spinks Springs have also developed patented spring making machines that work at five times the speed of traditional machinery. Our ultra-fast HD spring machines produce 600 springs per minute, equal to 36,000 per hour. Lightweight, high-density springs have not only allowed us to create unrivalled levels of comfort and support for our mattresses, but have opened new markets such as car seats, running shoes and office chairs.

The Queen’s Award for International Trade for Outstanding Short Term Growth in Overseas Sales was granted to Harrison Spinks following a 296 per cent increase in exports. Internationally, Harrison Spinks trades in over 50 countries with joint ventures in USA and China and now overseas sales make up 25 per cent of our total sales.

The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are awarded to businesses for outstanding achievement in four categories: International Trade, Innovation, Sustainable Development and also for Promoting Opportunity. This year 237 awards were granted across the four categories, 26 of which were awarded to companies from Yorkshire and the Humber.

All Harrison Spinks and Spinks Springs products are expertly made in Yorkshire, with over 600 employees based at our Leeds Factory.

Keep up to date with all the latest Spinks Springs news by following us on Twitter.