Why we’re opening our factory doors up for Made in Yorkshire

This Thursday, we’re opening our Wakefield HQ’s doors up to the Made in Yorkshire network for a factory tour.

Made in Yorkshire, part of the Made in Group, exists to champion and promote UK industry, connecting people virtually, and through in-person events, like factory tours.

The goal of Made In is to unite British industry, through a network of regional communities, all joining together to help provide the nation with stability, security, and prosperity.

So why are we opening our doors up for a factory tour of our own?

Our transformation isn’t just about better processes, it’s about building a culture of continuous improvement that drives real, measurable growth.

We’ve embraced a proactive, data-driven approach, supported by major investments in people, processes, and technology. From real-time dashboards to refined workflows, everything we do now is about removing friction and unlocking value for both customers and colleagues.

As part of this transformation, we’ve been working with technology firm WrxFlo — a digital operations platform —to introduce new technological integrations to help us monitor real-time data, driving smarter decisions and perfecting the in-house communication between customer order, production, and eventual delivery.

These upgrades form part of our continuous improvement culture here at Thurston, as we aim to become both the UK’s offsite manufacturer of choice, and the regions employer of choice.

We’ll be talking about our impressive leaps in industry frameworks, a shift driven by leadership focus and cross-team accountability, where we’ve gone from scores in the 60s to scores in the high 80s, as well as how our new approach to staff training, is transforming the Thurston team.

Our leadership team will be giving the inside track, exploring how in the past two years we’ve reshaped a traditional, paper-heavy operation into a digitally enabled, people-first powerhouse, with a healthy order book and big ambitions for further expansion.

Beyond showcasing ourselves though, what we’re really keen to do is open up a conversation with other leading businesses in Yorkshire.

From upskilling to introducing new technologies, we want to talk about how we can collaborate to secure the future of the manufacturing and construction industries.

We’d like to share ideas and hear from other firms about what they’re doing to enhance efficiencies and futureproof skills provision that reflect the changes the manufacturing and construction sectors have seen over the past few years.

This event will be more than just a factory tour – it’ll be a platform for future collaboration and the sharing of insights across Yorkshire industry.

Keep an eye out for the post-event wrap up on our LinkedIn, and stay tuned for our upcoming blog covering highlights and key takeaways from the event.

If you’re a Made In Yorkshire member, you can sign up for tickets here.