A well known local businessman who started his engineering business in a row of converted cottages in Hyde with just £50 in the bank had landed a £40,000 contract with Shell Mex BP Ltd to design a safer hatch for petrol tankers.
Clive Williams employed just two apprentices when he founded Progressive Engineering back in the early 1960s.
The firm moved to Guide Bridge in 1964 where the workforce gradually expanded and the company began marketing equipment under its own name.
Fast forward to 1973, Progressive had grown to a team of 14 but Mr Williams was predicting that number would soon increase three-fold to keep pace with the orders he had already secured and others still under negotiation - including a conversion contract with British Rail worth £5m.
The new hatch for Shell Mex was designed to seal petrol tankers more securely with four locking points on the central wheel instead of the usual three.
A delighted Mr Williams, 35, of Waverley Road, Gee Cross said the future was looking rosy.
“It has been a long hard struggle to really get going but now Shell has taken the lead with the first order for our new equipment, others are bound to follow,” he told the North Cheshire Herald.
“In three or four months when production begins, Progressive Engineering will be doing about three times as much work than it has ever done before. Our future is more or less assured.”
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From the Chronicle files - Thursday 21st August 2025
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