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Basta
Parsons
Lock of Gold
1 . History
The Gallagher family, originating in Tubbercurry,
County Sligo, had – like many Irish families
– gone to work in the building industry in Britain
during and after the Second World War. They built
up a very successful construction company both in
Ireland and England, which subsequently became Abbey
PLC. Wanting to do something for their local community,
in 1955 they established Basta to manufacture locks
and fittings for doors and windows within the Irish
market.
At that time, the government offered incentives for
Irish house builders to purchase Irish manufactured
goods. As Basta was the only manufacturer of locks
and handles, these incentives helped to establish
and grow the company.
However, the advent of Free Trade resulted in Basta
losing this competitive advantage. In 1984 Basta was
sold off by the Gallagher Family during a management
buy out. However, as it had no significant Sales in
Export Markets, coupled with the recession in the
construction industry in Ireland in the late 1980s
Basta came under severe financial pressure. Problems
came to a head in 1990, when with a turnover of only
IEP£2.7m; the company was on the point of liquidation.
With 65 employees, Basta was Tubbercurry’s major
employer at that time, and the collapse of the company
would have been a disaster for the town. Led by the
current CEO, Kevin Norton, a rescue package was formulated.
Part of the rescue involved IDA funding to help Basta
develop its product range and manufacturing processes
while seeking to develop export markets.
Since the rescue in 1990, Basta has gone from strength
to strength. Irish Sales have trebled. With the assistance
of two acquisitions in Britain in the last four years,
Basta’s total turnover now exceeds £15m.
Britain is now their major market. A key element of
this expansion has been product innovation. From a
narrow product range, targeted at timber doors and
windows, the company now has an impressive portfolio
of products for timber, PVCu, and steel doors and
windows. Peter Norton, Basta’s Marketing Manager,
believes that the company’s Product Development
Programme has been one of the major factors in turning
the company around. “With our extensive product
catalogue we now strive to be ahead of the competition,
and continue to innovate with new designs. At any
one time, there will be approximately 40 products
in development”.
Basta now employees 250 people, half of them in Tubbercurry.
Not only has the number in Tubbercurry doubled, but
the quality of those jobs has also improved; for example,
the company now employs six engineers in Sligo compared
to none in 1990.
Basta manufactures quality Irish Ironmongery, using
the ‘Guaranteed Irish’ logo to influence
buyers in the domestic market. Its major marketing
theme is “Quality You Can Trust”. This is
based on the company’s record of product returns
for quality reasons of only one out of every 100,000
products shipped. In making acquisitions in Britain,
Basta was looking for additional products, brands,
and customers. In acquiring Worcester Parsons in 1998,
Basta acquired two British brands ‘Worcester
Parsons’ (the best-known name in Britain for
quality brass hinges) and Smith Wallis (the leading
name for steel window fittings). Basta Parsons (Basta)
was formed. Among the new products acquired were hinges,
steel window fittings, and a range of products for
PVCu doors and windows.
In January 2001 it acquired ‘Lathams’. With
this Basta acquired the Conqueror and Gibbons brands,
along with a portfolio of products for PVCu doors
and windows, and locks for timber doors.
Basta is licensed by the EPA in Ireland. It conforms
to the latest EU standards in relation to environmental
discharges. One example of this is the treatment of
water in its Tubbercurry facility. “The water
leaves our plant cleaner than when it arrives”
remarked Peter.
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