Leading water management specialists JDP is celebrating its 45th anniversary with a period of significant expansion, growth and investment. The company is driving major investment in new branch openings, continuous branch improvement and upgrades, expansion of sales teams, sales office support, technical services and marketing and trade counter staff.
Having grown over 45 years to become one of the UK's leading and most respected distributors of water management systems, JDP has dedicated manufacturing capabilities through its partners in Tessenderlo Group and close partnerships with the world’s leading manufacturers of drainage, civil engineering and building products. From a nationwide network of branches, JDP provides a one-stop shop for residential, commercial, public and industrial building as well as civil engineering, utilities and agricultural projects.
In this milestone year, managing director Steve McLellan invited local MP Rory Stewart (Penrith and Borders) and Val Tarbitt (Cumbria County Council, Longtown Division) for a guided tour of JDPs head office facility in Longtown to learn about JDPs growth and investment plans.
The tour included a visit to the Fabrication Department where Rory and Val were given a demonstration of the types of fittings JDP now manufacture. Over the last three years, the in-house team has expanded from one employee to five. The fabricated fittings are top quality and offer customers alternative products at lower costs.
Rory Stewart said: “JDP are a hugely impressive local business, with a national imprint, who have been one of the most respected distributors of water management systems for almost half a century. It was an honour to visit and to meet staff and management. The best local businesses are those that invest in people, and you can see that the loyalty to their product and work ethos have contributed to create a really strong, sustainable business.”
Steve McLellan said “People are at the heart of JDP, and the recent Gold award from Investors in People proves that our values and culture makes the company a great place to work. JDP has been providing quality customer service throughout the UK for the past 45 years. We would not be able to achieve this success without the ongoing support of our customers and employees.”
John Davidson Pipes was originally formed by local businessman John (Brian) Davidson who provided drainage pipe systems to farmers and other local trades, whilst running a local coal merchant business with his family in Gretna. The very first product sold to the public was clay pipes (tiles for land drainage) and the annual turnover was £200,000. Business flourished, leading Brian to open three more branches of JDP at Longtown, East Kilbride and Doncaster.
In 1972 JDP was incorporated with the head office being run from Brian's home at Allison's Bank in Gretna. 1977 saw a massive change of use from clay pipes to plastic pipes in the agricultural market and ushered in a new era, which lasted until 2002 when JDP became part of Tessenderlo Group. This paved the way for an amalgamation between three regional businesses, Dyka UK, Pipewise and Duraplas, and many of the original staff from these companies remain with JDP today.
In 2003, Steve McLellan took over as Managing Director. Steve has been instrumental in making the Company a leader in water management by focusing on investment in Training Programmes, Sales Promotion, Technical Support and Design Services. Now 45 years on from the opening of JDP, with over 250 employees and 27 branches from Inverurie in Northern Scotland to Launceston in Cornwall, the success of the Company continues with new high quality product solutions and more branches opening across the UK.
Tessenderlo Group is a diversified industrial group that focuses on agriculture, valorizing bio-residuals and providing industrial solutions. The group employs about 4,900 people and is a leader in most of its markets, with a consolidated revenue of 1.6 billion EUR in 2016. Tessenderlo Chemie nv is listed on Euronext Brussels and is part of Next 150 and BEL Mid indices. Financial News wires: Bloomberg: TESB BB – Reuters: TesBt.BR – Datastream: B:Tes.
