According to Yorchem, a UK-based firm that supplies chemicals to the global leather market under the trading name of Euro Finishes, its customer base and international reputation have grown because its young management is made up of former Earnshaw staff.
Yorchem managing director, Darren Strafford, believes the knowledge he and other senior figures built up at Earnshaw has helped it carve out a niche for their products. All five of the firm's principal staff, including Stafford, are former Earnshaw people. The others are production manager Richard Pollard, sales director Julian Osgood, logistics manager Amanda Parsons, and Bolivian-born technical sales manager Freddie Cartagena.
‘Earnshaw's built its reputation on three core principles - quality products, competitive pricing, and honest and reliable service. It enabled it to successfully export to nearly 80 countries, and that is the yardstick we have set ourselves', says Stafford.
Established in 2001, Yorchem supplies leather-finishing products to Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France, Israel, China and South Africa. In the past six months, it has appointed distributors in Guatemala, South Africa, Asia and Europe, and is looking to appoint agents in Pakistan, Canada, USA and in other South American countries including Mexico, Columbia, Bolivia and Panama.
Yorchem recently invested in a new laboratory and production equipment at its 3,000 square-meter plant. Its products include resins, stuccos, acrylic emulsions, binders, penetrators, feel modifiers, filling and matting agents, and oils and waxes.
‘Whereas bigger companies offer manufacturers their product list and say take your pick, we talk to manufacturers about what they need and supply the amount they need', said Julian Osgood, sales director.
