From humble beginnings – a 140 m2 premises and the dream of a young, dynamic and tenacious engineer, the company has grown to become the global design, manufacturing and service entity it is today with a vast range of products for gas and liquid tank containers, road tankers, rail cars and the petroleum transfer industry. Fort Vale Engineering was started in 1967 by Edward S. Fort, whose commitment and significant success was recognised in 1987 when he was awarded the OBE for his services to industry.
In 1966, “Ted” Fort decided to leave his employment as Assistant Chief Engineer at Drum Engineering in Bradford, having recently purchased 2 redundant machines from a Ministry of Defence auction for a grand total of £550.00. He took up a challenge from a business colleague at Kenning Road Tankers in Ossett to design and manufacture a 3-way valve that was to be half the weight of the model they were using at the time. From a small workshop at his parents’ home, Ted designed the valve, prepared the drawings and a technical specification manual and produced a wooden model. He went on to win an order for 100 valves, on the proviso that the 5 prototype valves worked! Ted then set to work to persuade his younger brother Robert to leave his job at the BBC in London to come and join his fledgling business venture.
With the addition of a Harrison 17 inch swing lathe, (which cost him every penny of his savings of £2,495), Ted’s gamble paid off. Fortuitously, the two machines he had bought, a Precimax fine boring machine and a Newall Keighley L12 plunge grinder, were fundamental to the successful manufacture of this initial Fort Vale product. The 2 1/2″ cast iron T-port and L-port valves became the leading valves on all fuel oil delivery vehicles in the U.K., with sales of 1,500 units per year.
Ted went on to design a ball valve type nozzle to add to his range of fuel delivery equipment and developed a range of adaptors and dust caps from a special aluminium alloy, which he named “Fortmetal”, to rival the more expensive gunmetal equivalents on the domestic market. Having outgrown its first premises, the company moved to a larger site on the next street, and now had a staff of 13. It was at this time, in 1971, that Fort Vale received its first export order whilst Ted combined a sailing trip to Ireland with some customer prospecting. Tom Barry of Dublin placed an order for £10 and became a regular and long-standing customer. Crucially though, it was an encounter with a company called CPV (Container and Pressure Vessels) in County Monaghan that changed the course of the company. CPV was one of the first manufacturers of Tank Containers, a mode of bulk liquid transportation which was just in its infancy and competing with the alternative method of using 50 gallon drums. CPV had already gained orders for their tanks but were struggling to source high-quality valves to equip them. Having acquired a sound knowledge of valve design and manufacture, and following several profitable years of business, Fort Vale was ideally placed to become an expert supply chain partner at the inception of this rapidly growing market. The spring-return Marsden footvalve was the first valve Fort Vale designed for the tank container, followed by the Maxi Highflow relief valve, which was adapted from its existing Twinact design for road tankers.
Buoyed by this expanding industry, Ted Fort purchased larger premises in 1974 – Parkfield Works, an old textile mill. The company became fully operational here in 1976 and in the 20 or so years that Fort Vale spent at Parkfield Works, massive developments took place.
The incumbent Managing Director, Ian Wilson, joined the company in 1978 to spearhead its commercial management, and with him came the first computer, an 8k Commodore PET (Yes, 8k was its RAM size!). As well as quality and service, a core value of the company has always been continuous progress and investing in the latest technology: early installation of CAD/CAM enabled the design team to turn ideas into reality rapidly and to constantly refine and develop the product range.
Facilities, machinery, office practices, personnel, marketing, management, production, design all went through huge changes as society, the political and financial situations and the tank equipment market changed so dramatically.
Fort Vale attended national and international exhibitions and became a thought-leader in the industry, residing on the ISO Tank Container regulatory body and helping to set standards in safety and best practice – a principle that is still of paramount importance to the company today. As an investment in the company’s future and, having started his own career as an apprentice at Rolls Royce at the age of 15, Ted Fort has always been an advocate of providing an excellent apprenticeship scheme which recruits every year. For the last three years, Fort Vale young engineers have been judged in the Top 3 nationally in prestigious engineering competitions. “I feel vindicated and delighted when I see the number of staff at Fort Vale, in all areas and some in very senior posts, who first started as apprentices, long may it continue!” Current Directors, David Bailey (Design), Andrew Bishop (Sales & Marketing) and Peter Staveley (Quality) exemplify this.
Fort Vale moved to its current 72 acre site at Simonstone in 2008, currently occupying a manufacturing capacity of approximately 16,258 m2 (175,000 sq.ft). The site is also home to a specialist product Research and Development facility as well as a bespoke 3rd Party approved Test Laboratory and Oxygen-Clean Room. During the coming 12 months, the company will be re-locating its nearby lost wax investment casting foundry to a larger, purpose-built on-site foundry, which will further streamline production processes.
Today the company employs over 500 personnel worldwide and has 5 strategically located, wholly-owned subsidiaries to service the global market. Fort Vale has been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Export twice and the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade twice as well as being accredited with ISO9001:2008; PED Module D & H; TPED; ATEX.
When asked about what makes Fort Vale the company it is today, Ian Wilson says, “We listen to what our clients want and anticipate future trends, so our products are always evolving to benefit them. The valves and equipment we manufacture, and the worldwide after-market service that we provide, are integral to the ongoing success of our customers and are crucial to the safety of those who work every day in high-risk environments. We value our unique position in the market, take our responsibilities seriously and aim continually to find ways to add value to ensure that our customers’ vessels are 100% safe and dependable. The company is proud of its history and we are delighted to be celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2017.”