History

Take a look below as we walk you through a brief history of Anchor Magnets, from 1984 to present.

From Past to Present

1984 Anchor Magnets Ltd is Founded

Our foundations were established in 1984 at Woodburn Road. The founders of Anchor Magnets spotted a gap in the market to facilitate the smaller and medium sized orders of magnetic products in which other companies were not interested. From these humble beginnings we began to grow.

1986 Relocated to Bankside Works

Continued growth and expansion saw us move to our current location, Bankside Works, although in 1986 we only occupied part of the site.

1987 Mike Burton joins Anchor Magnets Ltd

Our Project & Innovation Director Mike Burton joined the business as Sales Manager, and developed valued relationships with clients that still stand today.

1987 Extrusion capabilities established

Our first extrusion capabilities were established in 1987. Technical expertise was provided by our first employee Ian Wainwright and Horst Baermann, whose father Max invented the flexible permanent magnet.

1987 LEADING PROVIDER OF SHOWER PROFILES IN THE UK

We quickly became the leading provider of the shower profiles in the UK following the introduction of our extrusion machines. In addition, we also began to manufacture flat profiles for the Pop-Up Display industry.

1998 BUSINESS ACQUIRED BY OVERSEAS INVESTOR

1998 saw Anchor Magnets acquired by Kane Magnetics, a U.S. based company.

2000 WORLD'S FIRST CO-EXTRUDED MAGNETIC TAPE INVENTED BY ANCHOR MAGNETS LTD

magedge® was invented by Mike Burton and Simon Lee, the world's first co-extruded magnetic tape, combining rare earth magnetic materials with a coloured binder for identification and easy application. To find out more about magedge®, click here.

2001 ANCHOR MAGNETS UNIQUE AMONGST EUROPEAN COMPETITORS

The turn of the millenium saw Anchor Magnets Ltd. developing the capability to manufacture extrusion granulate and in 2001 we began to produce our own granulate to create magnetic extruded products.

2002 magedge® Patent

In 2002, our innovative new product magedge® was granted a patent.

2002 RECYCLING OF FLEXIBLE MAGNET COMMENCES

In 2002, we began recycling flexible magnetic material, becoming the first company in the UK to do so. To date, we're one of the few companies world-wide with the capability to create new products from those which are no longer useful or from waste generated during extrusion and kiss cutting.

2002 UK MANAGEMENT BUYOUT

2002 also saw us return to UK ownership with the in-situ UK management of Mike Burton and Peter Holmes buying out the business from Kane Magnetics, who had acquired the business from our original investors Trevor Lee, Horst Baermann and Ian Wainwright.

2004 APPOINTED AS SOLE UK AGENT FOR VITAFLEX® THERAPY MAGNETS (Now Equilibrium Products)

In 2004, we were appointed as the sole UK agent for Vitaflex® Therapy Magnets, who now trade under the name of Equilibrium Products. 

2006 GAINED ISO 9001 ACCREDITATION

2006 saw us gain ISO 9001 Accreditation which still stands to this day.

2008 DIGIFILM® PRINTABLE FERROUS MEDIA LAUNCHED

2008 was the year we introduced digifilm® to the UK and mainland Europe, allowing retailers to create quick-change graphic display systems using thin, flexible and ferrous media in conjunction with magnetic sheet.

2009 MADE IN SHEFFIELD TRADEMARK

In 2009 we were granted the prestigious use of the Made In Sheffield Trademark. Sheffield is known for its quality manufactured products, so to be able to use this trademark allows the for Anchor Magnets name to become synonymous with quality made products.

2010 EEF FUTURE MANUFACTURING AWARDS

Highly commended in the environmental category.

2010 WARMROOM® MAGNETIC HEAT SAVER INVENTED

Warmroom® is our magnetic heat saver, invented and developed by Mike Burton to save heat whilst reducing heating bills and the carbon footprint of a property.

2012 ZERO LANDFILL STATUS ACHIEVED

Working in paternership with Veolia helped us to achieve zero landfill status, with all waste either recycled on-site or managed by Veolia.

2013 E.ON ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD WINNER

2013 OUTSTANDING BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD

2013 was the year we were nominated for and won the Outstanding Business of the Year award. This was a fantastic achievement for the company, having been against some strong competition.

2015 ATTRACT® POS SYSTEM LAUNCHED

In 2015, we launched ATTRACT®, which is a multi-function single or double-sided magnetic display system which can be free-standing, suspended, or wall-mounted.

2013 UK MANAGEMENT BUYOUT

Warren Turner and Keith Simpson became owners of Anchor Magnets Ltd.

2015 SITE EXPANSION

We acquired new office space in the building adjacent to our current offices, allowing us to spread out and improve our working environment. The entire Bankside Works site was, from then on, devoted to Anchor Magnets Ltd.


2017 DIGIFILM® REBRANDED

In 2017, we rebranded digifilm® to identify each variant by its coating.

2019 AM Europe is Launched

In 2019, our European operations in Germany began, enabling us to distribute from a central location in Europe to speed up delivery times across the EU.

2020 ATTRACT® Repurposed

2020 saw our ATTRACT® range repurposed to assist with the worldwide response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021 E-commerce website launched

Towards the end of 2021 we launched our brand new e-commerce site, allowing customers to view a wide range of products that can be purchased directly from our brand new, user friendly website.