Amarjit Binji talks to Clare Hollister at PJP about his 25 year journey in the industry.
Amarjit Binji is a trained carpenter, joiner with a love and passion for the woodworking industry and a desire to have a workshop which showcased how the industry could look to the outside world by having clean, tidy and pristine workshops while delivering high class products. In 1991, frustrated with what he perceived to be a staid industry which lacked the ambition to move with the times he decided to fulfil that vision and start his own business. Thus AJB Group was born.
Fired by youthful enthusiasm and perhaps some naivety, he visited a mothballed pine furniture unit in Leicester and approached the landlord who saw something in Amarjit and allowed him to take the machinery and space for 3 months to see if he could fulfil the vision and make something of the space. The foreman of the unit, John Besse together with Mark Lord, who had been Amarjit’s mentor during his apprenticeship, joined the company and things began to fall into place. For four years the order book was full but it was a challenge to make the furniture and then jump in the van to deliver it all at the weekends.
Alongside this, door and window work was starting to come in so a change of mindset was needed.
In the summer of 2000 Amarjit closed the factory for 2 weeks. He made the decision to buy £50,000 worth of machinery and to revamp the workshop in order to get ready for the change of focus. Enlisting the help of his 13 year old brother, Mandeep, they cleaned, painted and moved everything around so by the time the staff arrived back from their break Amarjit had the pristine workshop of his dreams. Mark Lord, his foreman, took one look at it and pointed out that he had a workshop which looked like it had never seen any work, no forward bookings and a lot of expensive unused machinery.
A week of sleepless nights ensued but fate intervened when a man walked into the workshop one afternoon and asked if they made windows. Amarjit thought nothing of it and referred him to John but then asked how many windows? 110 was the response. So began the relationship with Mr Chaggar who put in his order based on the look of the workshop and the ambition he saw in Amarjit. He became their largest single customer and AJB fulfilled all the woodworking requirements for his 15,000 square feet house build. Mr Chaggar became a friend and business mentor, influencing and advising on business decisions with his cheerful ‘skies the limit’ attitude.
Amarjit says: “He was the first successful businessman I’d ever known. He was inspirational and generous with his time. He had faith and belief in me and I believe his influence is still with me.”
In 2000 during routine Sunday cleaning, a man called Bob Jones arrived and asked to look around the premises and liked what he saw. A week later a fax arrived inviting Amarjit to a meeting at Shadbolts in London and to quote on 9 cherry wood door frames. Arriving at Shadbolts and sensing the history of this 100 year old established veneer company with a slick reception area and board room Amarjit felt that things were about to change.
Bob introduced him to his colleagues and announced it was his last day and disappeared from the scene. So started a relationship which remains to this day. Shadbolts orders meant that the furniture side was no longer viable so in 2004 reluctantly Amarjit closed that side of the business. He installed an extraction unit, employed more staff and with the help of his sister registered for ISO9001.
By 2014 the 13.5K sq feet of space was bursting at the seams and the decision was made to move to bigger premises. With nothing affordable or suitable the search widened and the premises in Corby was found. After an exhausting and frustrating search for funding Royal Bank of Scotland agreed to fund the plan and the move was made with most key staff transferring over to Corby.
2015 saw Shadbolts orders ramp up from 100 to 850 in the space of 3 weeks. The staff all rose to the challenge, the orders were fulfilled and the client was very happy. New clients were found and things were looking up.
Then a series of challenges hit in the form of Brexit, then just as things started to improve the pandemic hit and although the factory carried on functioning, work diminished.
Then as things started to look better there was a fire in the factory which could have been so much worse than it was but the fact the workshop was clean, tidy and free of sawdust and rubbish it was contained. However, the machine was a write off. Amarjit gives a big shout out to Biesse who provided a replacement machine within days and staff who worked tirelessly to get the unit cleaned and fit for purpose.
2022 and 2023 were tough years with the energy crisis and general industry turndown.
But despite all of these challenges the outlook for the AJB Group in 2024, their 25th year, is rosy. There are opportunities on the horizon which could change their future and the order book is strong.
Amarjit Binji remains determined to fulfil his vision with the help of his immediate family and his workforce who he regards as his extended family.
PJP looks forward to following their progress and updating our readers on their progress and news.
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