GEORGE Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer visited Moulton Park-based Arnold Engineering Plastics. His visit was in the last days before the General Election and this is a Chancellor who likes to get involved in the manufacturing process, even if it was for a short time. The visit was the idea of Michael Ellis MP who was returned at the election as the Conservative MP for Northampton North. During the visit, the Chancellor tried his hand at a number of machines and also had a lesson in the art of applying vinyl to signage.
GEORGE Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer visited Moulton Park-based Arnold Engineering Plastics. His visit was in the last days before the General Election and this is a Chancellor who likes to get involved in the manufacturing process, even if it was for a short time. The visit was the idea of Michael Ellis MP who was returned at the election as the Conservative MP for Northampton North. During the visit, the Chancellor tried his hand at a number of machines and also had a lesson in the art of applying vinyl to signage. The Chancellor was delighted with what he had produced but did comment that it was a lot trickier than it looked. Mr Osborne ran one of Arnold’s three 3 Axis CNC Routers and from his reaction he thoroughly enjoyed it. Arnold Engineering Plastics is a long-established business in Northampton, clocking up over 40 years in the town. Managing Director Peter Larkins, who hosted the Chancellor’s visit, said: “We have been in touch with the Government concerning several matters over the past few years and have sought a better overall deal for SME businesses like ourselves. “We have routinely invested in this business year on year and have most recently in the last financial year invested some £350k in new machinery, enabling us to produce goods quicker and ultimately cheaper, thus keeping our competitive edge in a marketplace which has been tough to say the least for the most of the last Parliament.” Peter went on to say: “Now that we can look forward to a further period of political and economic stability we ourselves are looking to expand our business operation to yet further improve the services and product range to our customers.” Arnold’s are certainly a diverse manufacturing operation, with the one central theme being plastic, but the company has branched out into areas of personal protective equipment, shop fitting and, of course, all types of signs and graphics. Peter, who believes in providing a complete one-stop shop for his clients, said: “This not only ensures quality of product and price competitiveness but allows Arnold’s to be able to respond to the ever increasing demands of customers for shorter and shorter manufacturing lead times.” If you would like to know more about Arnold Engineering Plastics contact Kavin Hackett on 01604 499651 or email .