In 2020 Welland Power will celebrate 70 years of manufacturing.
As a company we always look to the future with innovation, constant product development and supplying of new markets. Something we are incredibly proud to be recognised for again and now for the 3rd year in a row with our 2019 inclusion into the EXPORT TRACK 100
But today we are thinking about our past!
In preparation for our 70th year we would love to see how many old machines may be out there still going.
If you have an old Welland Power generator we would love to hear from you and see some pictures.
In 2020 the oldest machine submitted will win its owner a tour of the Welland Power factory and a Classic car driving experience at a race track of your choice.
If the machine is abroad then an alternative prize will be offered.
The origin of Welland Power:
Welland Power today is an international business, supplying Diesel and Gas powered generators to the entire world. The company itself has a rich heritage and history stretching back over 100 years in South Lincolnshire where the story began with the Farrow family’s first foray into the production and modification of a range of industrial machinery.
Today the Farrow family is still very much in charge with the sixth generation currently running the business with Managing Director Charles Lloyd Farrow.
From 1910 until 1950 the family specialised in the manufacture and the modification of industrial farm machinery and irrigation systems. Working through 2 world wars and supplying the war effort for the UK ultimately brought growth and prosperity culminating in the incorporation of Welland Engineering Co Ltd on the 7th March 1950.
The company was incorporated by Captain James Thompson, uncle to William Russell Pickworth Farrow who later bought the business. Welland was started to meet the needs of the increasing requirement for reliable power generation in both the UK and abroad. Prior to purchasing Welland, William Russell Pickworth Farrow had run Farrow Irrigation, supplying irrigation equipment to sugar plantations for Tate and Lyle worldwide, as well as a variety of other industrial customers.
Throughout the following 4 decades William Russell Pickworth Farrow remained at the helm of a developing and successful business, producing and exporting generators in the Spalding based UK factory.
William Russell Pickworth Farrow created a company and ethos evident in Welland Power to this day. He created a brand that stood for British made, high quality products recognised throughout the world. His constant drive and determination to ever improve upon his business and the insistence that every member of staff take pride and ownership of the product remains the company’s core values to this day and several generations later.
Following William Russell Pickworth Farrow’s untimely death in the early 1990s the day to day running and stewardship of the business passed to his son Edward John Russell Farrow who had by this stage risen to a senior management role having worked within the company for 20 years.
As Managing Director Edward Farrow managed to consolidate the business and move it forward despite the difficult economic conditions of the early 1990s. He diversified the range and focused the company to provide bespoke solutions to specific client requirements that only a true OEM could provide.
This culminated in a huge diversification of the Welland Engineering range to a range now including Lister, Perkins, Cummins, Volvo and Deutz powered generators. Welland Power becoming a key supplier not only for dealers and end users but for some key names within the power generation industry throughout the world.
In 2001 Welland moved from Spalding, where it had been operating since its inception to Holbeach, just 10 miles away. Here in a more modern facility, the company expanded its range further and expanded its reach, now covering markets worldwide.
It was during this period that Welland Engineering (Now renamed and rebranded as Welland Power) began to be recognised as a company capable of delivering any requirement and a serious competitor for the biggest international brands.
Modern Welland
Returning to Spalding in 2010, Welland Power invested for the future and built upon earlier success.
The company now owns its own modern production facility which covers an area of 25,000m2. This facility encompasses some of the most modern machinery for the production of steel work - CNC Lasers and CNC Break Press. Our expansion and modern facility houses equipment you won't find at most UK manufacturers, including some of the other biggest names. Every stage of the process from initial consultion through to bespoke design and CAD solutions are all handled on one site prior to production. Welland is still owned today by the same family; Charles Lloyd Farrow currently sits as Managing Director - The third generation of the family. In all, the Farrow family and its heritage building and assembling industrial machinery can be traced back over 6 generations and video footage of the family at work has been found from as early as 1921. In this time Welland Power has provided equipment to some exceptional projects around the world, including equipment for leading multinational companies, banks, schools, manufacturing facilities, telecoms stations, airports, police departments and many other bespoke applications.