When Dr Dennis Lowe, Delpro’s founder and former MD set up his company in 1975, his 11 year old daughter Sarah was turned out of her small bedroom to make way for drawing boards, printers, and a desk, while the single bulb light fitting with frilly lampshade was replaced with a huge overhead fluorescent tube contraption. A year later, the same fate fell upon the adjacent slightly larger bedroom where “the doc” as he was affectionately called, and his wife Fiona slept. Fast forward fifty years and that same daughter is now Delpro’s managing director, handling a very successful £7 million plus turnover company, with customers throughout the world, and a loyal long serving staff, many of which have been with the company as long as she has - over 30 years.
When, at the age of 16, Sarah announced to her father that she was leaving school to join an apprenticeship at Fairey Engineering he wasn't thrilled, his dreams of his daughter attending Oxbridge were dashed. But his disappointment was short-lived. In 1994 he invited Sarah to join the company and could not have been happier to have her at his side. If he were alive today he would be incredibly proud to see that 50 years after registering Delpro Ltd at Companies House, that same woman would be continuing his legacy and taking it from strength to strength.
After a few years in the bedroom, Delpro finally moved out to a small row of stone terraced houses in Thornsett, Birch Vale, and In 1993 moved to their current location in Glossop. The 10,591 sq ft building housing office space and a workshop facility, enabled the company to build and test the huge machines that have become their hallmark. With their own assembly and testing facility, Delpro is able to cut down on installation teething delays and enable tighter quality control, which has in turn helped build and sustain customer confidence and trust.
With over 10 countries on their Client list and businesses ranging from medical wound dressings to aircraft composite materials, Delpro has survived where others have floundered. Back in 1999 Dennis Lowe explained one of the reasons for their success “We don’t just supply a machine, we follow it through to meet and surpass our customers expectations” and that is still true today. A small company with personal service where the person who answers the phone may well be the person designing or installing your machine.
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