The Adelphi Group of Companies has been based in Haywards Heath since the 1980s and today employs 100 people, with ambitions to become the UK market leading manufacturer of filling and capping solutions for the pharmaceutical, food, cosmetics and chemical industries within the next five years. 

The family-owned business, which is a multi-award winning manufacturer and supplier of packing machinery and equipment, delivers innovative solutions to a global customer base from right here in Mid Sussex.

The team takes pride in giving back to the local community and places a great deal of value on the well-connected location and the pool of highly skilled people it can recruit.

We caught up with Chris Wilson, the managing director at Adelphi, to find out what the business loves about Mid Sussex and what’s next in its exciting journey.

The Adelphi Group of companies moved to Haywards Heath from London in the 1980s and has grown exponentially from less than 20 to 100 employees, now with an annual group turnover of more than £30m.

In that time, we have transformed our business from a simple manufacturer of bottle washing machinery, to a global manufacturer of filling and capping automation solutions for the pharmaceutical, food, cosmetics and chemical industries.

Adelphi was initially based in Angel, Islington, with a small very old mews workshop in Friern Barnet, which was quite unsuited to expanding the business. Two members of staff (including the current chairman) commuted from Haywards Heath every day, as they both lived in Cuckfield. 

It was expensive and time consuming, so they decided to look for freehold premises anywhere within a 12-mile radius of Gatwick.

One of the first properties that came up was Finch's Yard, a corner of the - now significantly larger - site which we still hold to this day

The greatest benefits about being based in Mid Sussex are its geographical advantages and the skilled local professionals.

Here in Mid Sussex, we benefit from excellent local transport links, including road, rail and air. For example, Adelphi is just 15 minutes from Gatwick Airport and less than one hour from London by train, as well as being less than 10 miles from the M23.

Extensive investment in the area and local redevelopment projects have created a wealth of more cosmopolitan facilities, including nice hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars and more. We often host customers, prospects, agents and potential business partners both from within the UK and abroad. The quality of hosting is vital for businesses of all sizes, to help nurture connections and ultimately win business. We find our area a location to be proud of, to ensure our trademark warm welcome and excellent service are matched by the places we choose to host. 

Mid Sussex also includes a highly skilled local supply chain. For smaller businesses, this means an opportunity to build trust and rapport with suppliers face-to-face, and for larger businesses, local suppliers are closer by and therefore easier to audit, if the process requires this. We are audited on how many of our suppliers are within a certain local radius, to demonstrate our commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of our products.

The prime local facilities and excellent transport links also mean top class local recruitment potential in the Mid Sussex area. In terms of location, graduates and Gen-Z employees often don’t want to travel to London or big cities for work any longer.  The lure of the London lifestyle has been diluted by the cosmopolitan bars and restaurants popping up throughout areas such as Mid Sussex. 

At Adelphi, we also make the most of apprenticeship link opportunities with local colleges. Whenever an opportunity arises for a new apprentice to join, we have almost instant access to a pool of great talent, from the many high quality education facilities in the Mid Sussex area.

Adelphi is a family owned and managed company, with two generations of family currently actively involved in the business. We pride ourselves on our personal touch with our staff and our customers.  

Charity and community are very much at the heart of our ethos, and we are proud to provide affordable housing for local residents in public service roles. 

At the end of 2023, we submitted our application for B-Corp certification, to formalise and demonstrate the already strong ethos at our heart.  The assessment process has been helping us both to recognise all that we do already, and also to give us new ideas and inspiration going forward.

The Mid Sussex community spirit, thriving local networks and top-quality local talent means that the area attracts more and more businesses and partnership opportunities every day. We only see this increasing exponentially.

At Adelphi we have set ourselves the aim of being the UK market leader for filling and capping solutions for our key markets, in five years’ time.

In order to achieve this, we need continued, sustainable growth in sales and margins both domestically and internationally. We also need to expand our R&D department, both in terms of personnel and in the products we design and manufacture, incorporating the most efficient, cutting edge and productive solutions that our markets desire.

We will expand our site to support our capacity to meet demand increases. This will incorporate increased employment investment with a strong focus on our already active and successful apprenticeship schemes in place. Adelphi will continue to be the place many want to join and few want to leave.

And we will need to access new geographical markets that either have not been penetrated so far, or will require our product solutions as their industrial output increases.

Our focus will also continue to be on increasing engagement from our suppliers, customers and our own engagement with the social and environmental responsibilities that we have.

We anticipate that this five-year journey will also incorporate the latest tools available, such as AI, to ensure that customer requirements are met in the most efficient and productive manner to achieve the desired outcome.

At Adelphi, we also make the most of apprenticeship link opportunities with local colleges. Whenever an opportunity arises for a new apprentice to join, we have almost instant access to a pool of great talent, from the many high quality education facilities in the Mid Sussex area.