The next link in the chain

From a proud history of chain manufacture to offering a full line of hoists, William Hackett is moving fast. Dan Jenkins visits a company that is implementing an accelerated growth plan as it targets new markets and grows its product range.

William Hackett is a name synonymous with lifting slings and hoists in the UK. After a significant cash injection by the private equity firm H2, it now plans to replicate that success across the globe.

Proud history

William Hackett can trace its history back to 1892, when the eponymous founder set up the company in Britain’s industrial heartland. Based in Cradley Heath in the West Midlands, it focused on chains for agricultural applications. It was almost a century later, in 1988, that the company set up a lifting equipment division, based in Alnwick, Northumberland. This led to William Hackett introducing its own line of hoists in 1995.

H2 Equity Partners saw the potential in William Hackett and invested in the business in in December 2023. The plan is to work with existing shareholders to help realise an ambitious growth strategy.

“William Hackett had come off the back of a record-breaking year in 2023 and that helped attract the right funding,” says Mick Howard, CEO. “There was no turnaround required, it was all about creating a plan and ensuring that everybody understood their role within it.”

Mick arrived in the hot seat in late summer of 2024, around nine months after H2 bought in. “The team was in a state of flux,” he adds. “They were doing a great job and all the building blocks were there; they just needed clarity on what we wanted to achieve and more importantly, how to achieve it.

“They were absolutely brimming with passion about driving growth, which was great for me coming into the business. My job was to harness that aspiration and orchestrate it.

Sales director Craig Adams adds, “It was a big change for us, culturally. I had been at William Hackett for 12 years and it was a family business. Private equity brought in a new mindset. We were probably trying to spin too many plates at once – dealing with a rebrand, implementing a new accounting software system and so on. Mick came in and helped us to take a step back, regain some perspective.

“It is like the old saying about how you eat an elephant; you have to cut it into manageable pieces. It has been very refreshing for us and given us a completely new outlook.”

This included the launch of new and expanded ranges of the Hack8 and Hack10 chain sling components as well as HA Load Attachments and some associated hardware in 2024. The same year, William Hackett completed the purchase of two complementary businesses – Forge Lifting Gear and B&S Chains. It has consolidated these into its West Midlands site.

Customer service

Mick has a track record of working for private equity companies and helping them realise their growth plans through to exit.

“From that experience you develop a sense of what works well,” he says. “You know you can focus on those elements that are going to help us the most. It was important to me that we didn’t lose that family feeling as that is a big part of William Hackett’s culture and values.”

One area that Mick was keen to retain was customer and supplier relationships. “Over the years, customer feedback has repeatedly shown that the strength of our relationships was a top reason why they keep coming back,” says Craig. “Our suppliers and customers have become our friends, and we have relationships stretching back 25 or even 30 years in some cases.”

The company is looking at ways to build on that by replicating the Amazon shopping experience. “When you place an order with Amazon you get an order confirmation email, followed by shipment confirmation then delivery confirmation, plus a follow-up email asking how your experience has been,” says Mick. “That encapsulates the principles of customer service and is our aim – not to badger customers but to ensure that we are providing an excellent service to them.

“We are looking at AI to see if we can optimise through automation. We are working with an external partner to identify where it makes sense.”

Mick adds, “With William Hackett we didn’t have to rip everything up and start again – which I have had to do in the past. It was more about preparing the people and the business for an accelerated journey.”

Product changes

Necessity is often the mother of invention and William Hackett had to plug gaps in its product range after its distribution agreement with Yoke came to an end. “We have distributed other brands of products for the past 25 years,” says Craig. “We wanted to be in control of our own destiny and that meant our own branded products”.

It has since added air hoists, a patent-pending reduced noise hoist – the QT, new ROV products and will shortly add an electric hoist range.

The company has been able to move relatively quickly to introduce new products because of its in-house knowledge base. “We have really strong technical capabilities,” says Mick. “All of our team have been through LEEA training from foundation to diploma and even some specialist courses.

“We looked at the market and across the competitor offering and realised we could broaden our product range because we have the technical expertise. The hoist range was already in a strong position, and we have added to that significantly. We are not going to try and offer every product. But where we can do it well, we should offer it.”

Introducing a loyal customer base to new products can be a challenge, but it has gone well. “When we introduced our full range of Hackett products the retention rates were phenomenal,” says Craig. “We had over 300 clients and lost less than a dozen. It is a big commitment for your customers to take new product, and it shows the trust they have in ours and in our technical expertise.”

That expertise is in part reflected in a meticulous approach to production. The company does not batch test; it individually tests each product to 1.5x its WLL. It also invested in a 75t vertical testing rig, which it says remains the largest in the UK and one of the biggest in Europe.

The company manufactures around 20,000 chain slings a year but says that hoists are its fastest growing product line in terms of sales.

Workforce development

Along with growing the business, Mick wants to develop the team. “All we are trying to do now is to build on that skill set to enhance the management team’s leadership abilities,” he says. “My role is to help my team create a legacy for themselves.”

The company recently introduced an adult apprenticeship programme. “This is a world class operator apprenticeship that is fully accredited by our further education partners,” he adds. “This is the first part of our apprenticeship programme; we will build out from here. Our education and skills agenda is as important as our product agenda.

“We have a lot of skilled people, so it is about adding that next level. Take-up has been great, with around 20% of the workforce choosing to join the programme.”

The apprenticeship is designed to offer a route into the industry as well as helping existing workers gain recognition for their skills. “You could have been here 20 years and can still access the apprenticeship to build on your skills,” he adds.

“We want to leave this business in an even stronger position than it was when I started, and that is no mean feat. We have some excellent competitors out there, so we will have to work hard to differentiate and grow against that backdrop of a very mature, competitive UK marketplace, but also virtually untapped markets overseas.”

Global expansion

Export sales will be vital in delivering the growth plan. In November 2025, William Hackett shipped orders to 50 different countries. It has established subsidiaries in south-east Asia, mainland Europe and the USA. “This process was already underway when I walked in the door,” adds Mick.

“The next step is building that knowledge base and understanding how to serve those customers so we can be at the forefront of those markets. We have traded in the USA for seven years, but setting up the William Hacket USA entity is a huge step for us.”

Craig adds, “I need boots on the ground to help build the brand through developing relationships with those clients. William Hackett has always been renowned in the UK and in Europe for our chain products. We can build hoist sales off the back of that.”

The USA is a prime target for growth. In October 2024 the company launched its Quad Pawl hoists. And late last year, William Hackett acquired Vulcan Hoist, Canada’s leading manufacturer of hoists and associated equipment. Vulcan also brings a respected range of electric hoists, helping to complete William Hackett’s hoist portfolio.

“North America is a massive opportunity, and, in some respects, it is still unchartered territory for us,” says Mick. “We know that there is latent demand for our products.”

The company is also considering additional acquisitions to facilitate global growth.  “Our purpose is to ensure that we have global reach, and we are already starting to realise that. Some growth will come from our existing infrastructure. On top of that, strategically and geographically we will make bolt-on acquisitions if they are the right fit.

“We bought a specialist operator in Forge, and they brought 35 years of niche engineering skills as well as a new customer base. With Vulcan, we knew we needed more traction on electric hoists, so they brought that to the table, as well as a number one market position in Canada. They have a great customer base, and we share the same values.

“We are renowned in the UK as experts in our field. We want to take that across all geographies. Most of the building blocks are in place but there is still work to be done. We are moving at pace, and we have targets and plans with step-by-step actions. Growth has to be sustainable; we do not want boom and bust.

“You cannot be everything to everyone, or you will spread yourself too thin. It is about doing a few things at once and doing them exceptionally well.”

Craig adds, “We are on course for our best ever year and are looking at solid growth next year as well. We already do very well in the UK, but a lot of that growth will come from exports, as that is where the opportunities lie.”

Community spirit

Closer to home, the company is strengthening ties with its local community, holding a festival entitled Hackfest to give something back. “There is no Glastonbury this year, but Hackfest is happening,” quips Mick. “During the day we want to share best practice with the community, then in the evening we will celebrate together with our customers.

“It is intended as a bit of fun and to boost community spirit. But more seriously, it is also a moment for us all to reflect on how far we’ve come.”