One of Corby’s oldest factories celebrates 70 years of manufacturing on St James’s Road site

Scandura in St James’s Road is one of Corby’s oldest surviving manufacturing plants.

Opened in 1956, there were no surrounding industrial buildings when the gasket-maker first began operating in the town.

Now the firm is celebrating 70 years of making specialist gaskets that are used in industry across the world.

General Manager Scott Kelman took Northants Telegraph reporters on a tour of the factory to talk about how the company is a beacon for high quality British manufacturing.

The company began in 1880 in London before moving to Corby in the 50s, when the town’s steelworks were at their most resplendent. It was bought by the Bristol-based Avon Group (no relation to the cosmetics firm) in 2022 and was in a beleaguered state. But the firm has now turned around its fortunes and is part of a larger company with sites across the South East, Midlands and Wales.

Scott said: “When Avon took over the company wasn’t making a profit. The building was unloved and the people were unloved. But Avon have invested £300,000 in the site to bring it up to standard including new offices and improving the shop floor.”

Now, the Scandura name is one the oldest gasket maker in the UK, and among the oldest in Europe.

The company makes bespoke gaskets for the automotive, transport, rail and industrial sectors, supplying big names including Triumph Motorcycles, Allison, and Cummins. In 2022, it also bought up a Hull-based rubber-moulding company and moved its entire operation to Corby.

Scott said: “Most of our raw material is imported from America with a 20-week lead time. It can be very tricky logistically and you have to make sure it’s right.

“Our products are crucial for so many firms.”

There are 17 workers at the site, who all work a 7.30am to 4.30pm shift - with a popular 12noon finish on a Friday. There’s no night shift.

Scott said that part of the key to the firm’s success is the hands-on approach of the company owner, Mark Rushin.

“He comes here probably every three weeks and we have a chat and go around the factory. He knows the machines and he knows the materials.”

On the factory floor, workers are producing parts for Jaguar Landrover.

“We have hundreds of gaskets and lots of them have to be hand-tied and stamped,” said Scott.

He shows us some top-quality Portuguese cork that has been turned into gaskets to stop oil leaking. In the rubber-moulding section, workers are hand-making rubber tyres that prevent vibration. They’ll be sent out to Australia, Germany and Thailand.

Worker Eric Graham is finishing rubber products that will be used to make conveyor belts. He has worked at the site for four-and-a-half-years.

He previously worked at several sites in Corby including Curver, Amaray and Bakeaway before redundancy hit.

“I love the hours here,” he said. “They’re great.”

You can find out more about Scandura here.