Welcome to JJHardy & Sons Ltd
Manufacturer of spare parts for the rail industry using the latest CNC machinery.
Company Profile - J J Hardy & Sons Ltd
Hartlepool Enterprise
This month’s company profile features leading Precision Engineer J.J. Hardy. Originally set up as a brass founder over 150 years ago, the business has evolved into one of the best equipped CNC machine operators in the country and can boast manufacturing parts for the UK’s fastest train Eurostar.
J.J.Hardy & Sons was established by its namesake John James Hardy in 1856 and was one of three brass foundries in Hartlepool. Originally located at Sunniside in Old Hartlepool, the company was handed down to John’s son W.H. Hardy (Billy). It was then sold to Thomas Henry Pailor in 1937, with son Thomas Temperley Pailor taking over management in 1963 and his son Andrew Thomas Pailor becoming the current Managing Director in 2002. Quite amazing that only five men from two families have led the firm over its entire 152 year history. Who knows maybe one day, Andrew’s son Thomas Arthur Pailor will continue the trend and take management of the company.
1n 1880, J.J. Hardy moved to premises at Throston Bridge, where it remained for 88 years until the council made the decision to demolish the building in 1968. Not to be deterred by this devastating news, Thomas Temperley Pailor took it upon himself to turn it into a positive business opportunity, and had a brand new factory built at the company’s current site on Brenda Road.
Part of J.J. Hardy’s key developments was the purchase of a CNC lathe in 1976, which was one of the first to be bought in the North East. At a cost of £58,000, the machine exceeded the then value of the family home in Wolviston, putting into perspective the scale of the investment! The lathe provided the company with exclusivity in CNC operations for some time, generating new clients from across the region and setting the trend for other suppliers in the industry.
Today J.J. Hardy continues to use the latest technology and techniques to maintain services at the forefront of engineering. Its principal business has evolved into the manufacture and supply of train parts and rail spares, and provides an unrivalled service to train companies and rail networks. Perhaps one of its most illustrious contracts has been the supply of suspension arms to Eurostar for their fleet of trans-channel high speed trains, and the related involvement with the recently launched St Pancras International Station. Eurostar clocked the UK rail speed record of 208mph back in 2003.
Customer satisfaction and product quality are top priorities, and the company holds a wide range of rail approval certificates as well as the IS0 9001:2000 standard. It has a highly trained workforce thanks to its modern apprentice programme and J.J. Hardy places a huge importance in employing local Hartlepool people to support he local economy. The highly skilled and committed workforce work with high tech CNC machines with a machine tool base worth over £1 million.
By coincidence, J.J. Hardy (James Jerry) is also a renowned US baseball player, currently based at Milwaukee Brewers. The company has made contact with the 25 year old, to courteously ask for him to autograph some pictures, with the hope of setting up an ongoing link between the two J.J. Hardys.
In 2006 the company celebrated its 150th anniversary and to celebrate it commissioned top rail artist, John Austin, to produce a painting that highlighted its strong link with the rail industry. The result was “The Way We Were” which depicts J.J. Hardy’s Throston Bridge premises in Edwardian days, at the time of its 50th anniversary in 1906, with steam trains passing on the bridge above. The picture has already been used for the 2008 wall planner, and valued customers will also receive a framed limited edition print.
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