A Glimpse Inside Hayes & Finch 2024

We thought it was time to give you an update on what's been happening around our site in Liverpool, we'll be adding more throughout the month of September so keep checking back!

If you have any projects or ideas that we can help with, don't hesitate to contact us, we'd love to provide our expertise!

 

The Showroom - New Additions!

Starting in our showroom where, as you can see, we've had quite a few additions - So if you're around or planning a visit to the area, come in to see some friendly faces, have a rummage and, most importantly, find a bargain!

Find us at
Hanson Road, Aintree, Liverpool L9 7BP

 

The Woodmill - 50 Years of Combined Skillset!

This week, we are featuring our furniture department which is run by Ben, Jeff and Dave. With a combined skillset of over 50 years’ experience, the guys certainly know their oak from their mahogany. Ben has been with the company for over 20 years and as a fully qualified cabinet maker, Ben has the skill and experience to manufacture the very highest of quality furniture. Ben is currently manufacturing a solid oak Holy Oil stores and working on the finishing touches, and recently manufactured 2 garden benches in solid teak for one of our customers.

 

Jeff is our newest member of the team but brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge. Jeff is currently finishing a Presidential side chair in solid oak. The detailed gothic arches and carved crosses add the required touches to transform this piece of furniture, and will stand out in the Church once delivered.

 

Dave, our French polisher is our longest serving employee in the wood department, having worked for the company for 25 years. Over the years, Dave has renovated over 1,000 pews and polished and lacquered over 20,000 Church chairs.

 

Our wood department have been manufacturing quality furniture for over 60 years in our factory in Aintree and whether you are looking to have furniture restored or looking to invest in a quality piece of furniture, Hayes & Finch is just a phone call away.

 

The Candlefloor - The Heart of the Factory!

At this time of the year, the factory in Liverpool is in full swing, manufacturing Advent candles. This year is no different and Jean who has worked for the company for over 50 years is making sure all Advent candles are dipped in a vibrant pink and purple wax. Please make sure you have your Advent candles on order so your Church can look its best with the Advent wreath front and centre in the Church.

Over at the extruded candle machine, Kevin continues to manufacture white candles in readiness for Jean to hand dip the Advent colours. Kevin joined the company just 4 years ago and has already mastered the art of candle making and is keen to learn from the team as he moves around the candle floor gaining more knowledge.

Our hand dipped candles is an old tradition that continues to be as popular today as it was when the kit was installed some 70 years ago. Gary, our candle floor production team leader keeps everyone in check and as an employee for over 25 years, Gary knows how to manufacture the very best burning candle.

Our 2 hour votive light machine produces over 50,000 candles per day, in red, blue and white metal cups. Kaitlin, our machine operator is Gary’s daughter and recently joined the team in Liverpool to fulfil her work experience and through her hard work and determination has become a full time member of the team and works alongside her dad.

Our Votive candle machine produces 25,000 candles per day and as a continuous drawing machine, is very interesting to watch. Please enquire about our factory tours, which usually happen in the summer months.

The candlefloor is home to a mixture of old and more modern machinery, as well as long serving staff and those who have joined the Hayes & Finch family more recently, but all give 100% to create the best candles for our customers. Remember to order your candles for Christmas early to avoid disappointment, it's only 6 weeks to Advent Sunday!

 

The Wick Room - Machinery still going Strong!

In our wick department we manufacture over 4,000 different wicks, using the finest cotton. With over 40 machines in this department alone, we are able to manufacture wick for our own candle manufacture and also supply wick to other candle manufacturers around the world. Carol, who has worked in Hayes & Finch for 40 years, has a wealth of experience and talent, keeping our array of machines running to keep up with the production demand.

 

Some of our machines are over 80 years old, including the ones we use to produce wick required for our Advent candles. Carol provides the wick to Gary, who then manufactures the candles with Kevin, they pass the finished candles to Jean, who then over dips them ready for our despatch team to deliver them across the UK and Ireland. Carol makes sure production continues in our wick room and that the machines are looked after!

 

Carol is always happy to provide detailed information when you visit the wick room while taking part in our factory tour. If you’d like to see or hear more, contact us to enquire about our tours, which we’re hoping to restart soon!

 

The Candle Laboratory - The Expert in Candle Making!

After our wick is used in candles we produce, it then moves on to our very own candle laboratory, run by Derek, who has been a Candle Technician at Hayes & Finch for over 30 years.

Derek works hard in the laboratory testing all the candles that we manufacture, including paschal candles, votive lights and scented candles.

This is to ensure the correct combination of wick, wax and scent has been used to give the best burn.

As well as testing our range of Church candles and scented candles, Derek is able to offer a testing service to our commercial customers who are looking to create their own candle products, where he ensures the regulations are met and guides in choosing the right wick for the required specifications. To find out more about this service, contact us!

 

The Metal Shop - Craftsmanship at its Best!

We love having our very own metalshop in our factory, it means we can provide our customers with a range of services for their Church furnishings, whether that’s having an item made from scratch and completely bespoke to specification, or having us renovate and restore old, time-worn pieces back to their former glory!

Dave, our silversmith has over 50 years of experience and joined Hayes & Finch straight from leaving school. When it comes to reversing the signs of ageing, Dave is your man. This Chalice has been re-silverplated and is just receiving the finishing touches to make it as good as new. Our renovation service provides the means to ensuring your precise metals can be used for many more years once they have been renovated by Dave.

Alan has over 40 years of service in Hayes & Finch, and when it comes to bending metal to a different shape, Alan knows what needs to be done. Alan is the perfect answer to those wanting their bespoke pieces made to a specific shape or pattern, or for re-shaping items to their original form when life has taken its toll on them. If you have any items that look as though they have already been under the hammer, please get in touch and we can provide an estimate.

Our metalshop has a range of machines and workspaces for each part of the process, a lacquer room for providing those last touches to make pieces long-lasting, workbenches for piecing parts back together with vices sometimes used for giving items a hammered finish, engraving machine for those bespoke inscriptions or cut-out designs and the captivating polishing machine that we couldn’t function without!

So if you’re looking for something made from scratch, completely new and unique, or if you’re wanting to give your dull and worn down silver and brassware some TLC with our renovation service, contact us - If you require work to be finished before the upcoming season, don’t delay!

 

The Vestment Room - Garments by Skilled Seamstresses!

Hayes & Finch have had a vestment department for over 60 years, starting out as a basic repair and alteration solution for clergy, it has now evolved into much more - offering a fully bespoke service with highly skilled staff and machinery that allow us to produce exactly what you’re looking for! Karen, our vestment room team leader has worked in Hayes & Finch for 30 years, and over the years has worked on a wide range of Church garments and vestments including chasubles, Altar frontals, copes and choir gowns. Karen is currently manufacturing a surplice, which is one of the many standard items we offer that we produce in-house, Karen is sewing in the pleats to finish the garment ready for despatch.

Donna, who works alongside Karen, has been a trained seamstress for over 24 years and is another of the company’s vital staff members. Both expert machinists can most often be found at their workstations piecing together fabrics and orphreys that result in exquisite items which they will always carefully press and wrap to ensure customers receive their orders in excellent condition.

As well as producing our range of standard items, we continue to offer made-to-measure where we create or alter to your personal dimensions, we can also help with restoring and repairing worn-down pieces. We recently replaced the material on a traditional chasuble, removing the old silk braid and re-applying it to new brocade material. Karen has spent many hours unpicking this beautiful braid, making some minor repairs and the finished garment looks as good as new.

Our fully bespoke service can produce the most beautiful garments, the team will work with you using their expertise to recommend the right fabrics and trims that will meet with each individual requirement. We not only use the skill of Karen and Donna, we also rely on the use of technology and our embroidery machine, which allows us to replicate a design or take a bespoke piece a step further with a unique motif, machine embroidering it onto a range of materials.

The talent and experience of Karen and Donna combined with the machines and fabrics within our vestment room, mean we can say with confidence that we are the solution in manufacturing a garment to fit your needs. If we can help you with an upcoming event or an idea, please make contact with our sales team to discuss!

 

The Tapestry Room - Kits made with Care!

Hayes & Finch acquired the businesses of Jacksons of Hebden Bridge Church Kneelers & Brigantia Needlework in 2019, to ensure that the skill of cross-stitching can continue to flourish for years to come with the help of tapestry kits. Clare who runs the department, already had some experience of needlework and quickly picked up the skill of producing tapestry kits for Church kneelers, cushions and many other products within the range. With over 3,000 design to choose from, there will be a design within our range ready for you to purchase and cross stitch.

This unique production once started with screen printing the designs onto the 5, 7 or 10 holes per inch canvas, today the process uses the latest technology to result in a higher quality product. It all starts with the design being produced on a computer, the finished image is then mirror printed onto a special paper. Clare places this onto the canvas and ensures each section is lined up before taping down.

The image is then baked onto the canvas using a heat press, moving the design from the paper to the finished canvas. After the canvas comes off the press, the paper is removed to cool while Clare picks out the required coloured wools and measures out the amounts needed for the design.

Each kit includes canvas, all associated wools, a needle, instructions and, for some of the more difficult designs, a printed image of the finished look to assist you. You won’t be able to order these kits on this website, due to the high amount of design choices we gave both Jacksons of Hebden Bridge Church Kneelers and Brigantia Needlework their own websites where you can browse the wide range on offer and purchase today - visit churchkneelers.com for Church kneeler kits or brigantineneedlework.com for a variety of household item kits!

As well as offering a wide range of designs and patterns, we are also able to offer a fully bespoke service, taking your design or idea and making this a reality. Looking for more information, want to make an order, or thinking about having a bespoke design made? Speak to our sales team who are happy to help, email sales@hfltd.com or phone on 0845 450 5593

 

Thank you for taking time to go on this virtual tour with us, contact us to organise visiting in person!

 

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