Modernising a 150-year-old manufacturer: Gordon Ellis’ £70k productivity boost
Monday 2 March 2026
Modernising a 150-year-old manufacturer: Gordon Ellis’ £70k productivity boost
Traditional family-owned woodworking business, Gordon Ellis, wanted to improve productivity, embed modern technologies and future-proof its manufacturing operations.
Based in Leicestershire, the company specialises in bespoke carpentry and joinery as well as polymer rotational moulding, an in-depth plastic forming process. Over the last 150 years, the business has grown from horses and hand tools to today’s digital-first precision woodworking.
Working with WMG and embedding a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) associate into the business, who implemented a new live monitoring system for Gordon Ellis, led to increased shopfloor capacity, reduced energy consumption and a £70,000 annual saving from physical waste-reduction.
Challenge: Tackling the manufacturing skills gap
A recent Make UK Industrial Strategy Skills report found that: ‘The failure to fix the manufacturing skills gap is costing the UK economy £6bn in lost output each year.’
After a previous successful collaboration, Gordon Ellis partnered with WMG’s SME Group to address the manufacturing skills crisis head-on, to secure the future of the business.
Daniel Robinson, Head of Finance, Operations and IT at Gordon Ellis wanted to ensure traditional, labour-intensive skills and knowledge are shared, whilst introducing new technologies and insights, to help the business to grow.
To do this, he partnered with Onur Eren, Principal Engineer for Digital Manufacturing and Katy Wilson, Project Manager for Internships and KTPs at WMG, to learn how WMG’s SME Group could help Gordon Ellis’ challenges.
"Gordon Ellis stands out as a manufacturer where tradition meets technology, integrating the latest digital technologies into the business, creating significant opportunities for collaboration."
Jack Davis, Innovation Manager, WMG.
“Being a traditional manufacturing business, it was looking to bring technology into the future of Gordon Ellis, by bringing a KTP on board, as a fresh pair of eyes to help innovate and scale-up in a big way.” - Katy Wilson, Project Manager for Internships and KTPs, WMG.
Solution: combining academic insight with industry experience
Katy worked with WMG’s Jack Davis and Sehajdeep Singh to hire and supervise a KTP Associate.
They needed someone that was fresh out of university and could bring in-house their academic expertise to inject fresh thinking, innovative ideas and help Gordon Ellis change-up the way the business runs.
Straight out of university, Jitin Malhotra joined Gordon Ellis as a KTP Associate and began working on a project to improve the shopfloor operations, by conducting a complete reshuffle of the layout.
“After optimising the shopfloor, I went into making a software that could plan all manufacturing operations. Whilst making the software, I was offered a job here as a Permanent Production Engineer.” – Jitin Malhotra, Production Engineer, Gordon Ellis.
Jitin supervised the remainder of the project, implementing equipment to monitor performance of critical machinery and utility usage in real-time.
Aligning with Gordon Ellis’ vision, Jitin’s projects allowed for further data-backed improvements to be made at the business.
"The quality and calibre of candidates we find for these placements are so well received by the businesses that often, they will stay on and be offered a permanent role with that company to build their career journey within that business."
Katy Wilson, Project Manager for Internships and KTPs, WMG.
The report from Make UK also saw that: ‘62.9% of manufacturers report a lack of candidates with the right technical skills as their main recruitment barrier.’
“Placements like internships and KTPs are really important, as it upskills the next generation of engineers and industry leaders.” - Katy Wilson, Project Manager for Internships and KTPs, WMG.
Impact: Lasting change on the shopfloor and beyond
“WMG is a pioneer in manufacturing, they’ve got loads of resources which might be helpful for you.”
Jitin Malhotra, Production Engineer, Gordon Ellis.
From collaborating with WMG and embedding Jitin as a KTP Associate, the new live-monitoring system provided detailed operational insights, enabling the business to make data-driven decisions; saving time, money and improve productivity.
The partnership led to major impacts for Gordon Ellis:
- • £70,000 annual savings via waste-reduction from manufacturing.
- • 4 x capacity increase in shopfloor manufacturing.
- • 28% reduction in energy usage.
“We had a working relationship with Gordon Ellis before the KTP and plan to continue this relationship moving forward. Currently, we are supporting Gordon Ellis with the next steps in their digital transformation journey by reviewing the suitability of robotic spray painting.” – Jack Davis, Innovation Manager, WMG.
“Get in touch with us today if you’re ready to start your success story. We can help you innovate, upscale and grow your business using our in-house facilities, academic expertise and our industry-experts here at WMG.”
Katy Wilson, Project Manager for Internships and KTPs, WMG.
Get in touch today to accelerate your plans and upskill your business with WMG’s Internship Programme.