Profiles: Company Profiles
Canvasman
Under Cover
Tony Jones visits Canvasman owners Chris and Fran Salisbury at their new warehouse just off the Leeds & Liverpool in Baildon, to find out what’s happening in the world of boat covers
“Some might say I was rather naive during the early years of the business,” says Chris Salisbury, managing director of Yorkshire-based boat-cover company Canvasman. “I remember sitting in a meeting at the bank when the company was just a few years old, and them telling me that there was no way I could build a successful business in such a niche market as narrowboats. Thankfully I was both fiercely determined and quite naive back then. I just thought ‘yeah, whatever’, and carried on regardless. I could see we were onto something, and besides, I love a challenge.”
Be nice and prosper
Canvasman has outgrown the tiny cellar in the Victorian terrace where the business was born 26 years ago. Today the company operates from a 10,000ft² unit in Baildon, Yorkshire, with a 40-strong team of designers, machinists, fitters and office staff. Many of the team have been with Canvasman for years, and some for decades.
“We hire nice people with a can-do attitude,” explains Fran, Chris’s wife and HR director of the company. “We can always train new staff and teach them the skills they need, but you can’t train people to be nice. I guess that’s why we have such a lovely team, and why they stick around.”
Chris is also quick to point out that hiring and keeping the best staff are big parts of why the company has been able to grow so consistently. “We’ve always had more demand than we can cope with,” says Chris. “So we’ve strategically scaled the business gradually, balancing growth with the risks of expanding too quickly.
“It’s a nice position to be in, knowing that we have enough demand to hire more people and invest in new equipment. Our only constraint has been the size of our premises. This new warehouse is our fourth location and I think we have enough capacity here to see us right for a while.”
Having visited the new facility, I can confirm it’s not only impressively modern, but it’s also enormous – which is probably for the best as Canvasman is currently growing at around 30%-35% per year.
Narrowboats to nuclear subs
For many years the business was predominantly boating focused, but Canvasman’s current client base features a wide range of industries, from leisure and hospitality to the automotive, aviation and health sectors. “We recently made an enormous canvas propeller-cover for a nuclear submarine, and we regularly make innovative and bespoke new products for start-up companies,” explains Fran.
Around 60% of their business is B2B, and the company has close ties with marinas and boat-builders who often refer customers looking for a quality canvas cover for their shiny new boat.
But how does a boat-cover maker come to work with such a diverse range of clients and industries? “We’re flexible,” explains Fran, referring to the company’s operational ability to create bespoke products. “If someone comes to us with a weird and wonderful idea sketched on the back of a fag packet, we can usually make it happen.”
Investment and innovation
Indeed, the company is renowned for investing in technology to push the business forward – from digital-mapping design facilities, CNC cutting and CAD, to a whole wealth of other hardware and software – it’s a far cry from the pool-table cutting desk and clunky sewing machine in the cellar where the company started. This technology means Canvasman can take a virtual concept and manufacture a prototype you can touch, hold and feel. “Our customers can be confident the concept is going to work before rolling it out into full production.”
And, while I’m sworn to secrecy about the details, I can reveal that the company’s innovation and investment in tech are not done yet. There are plans in the pipeline that could revolutionise the boat-cover industry forever. It’s quite exciting and I’d love to say more, but you’ll just have to watch this space.
“Thankfully our current bank manager is extraordinarily supportive of our business,” smiles Chris. “It’s amazing to see how far we have come in the last 26 years.”
