Made on Merseyside: Inside the factory getting churches ready for Easter

Hayes & Finch in Aintree have been supplying churches with everything they need for this moveable feast since 1882.

Transcript

00:00chocolate eggs fluffy chicks and a bank holiday even though you can't always guarantee the weather

00:06easter is still a time of joy for many this movable feast is one of the most important

00:11times in the christian calendar there's one massive business which plays a huge role in

00:16the celebrations there behind the scenes making major parts of the religious aspects of the

00:22holiday so we are an ecclesiastical supplier so we supply everything you see in the church

00:27right the way down to the pews you sit on to the wine you drink to the altar bread you eat

00:31and then obviously all the candles um all the vestments that the priest were and all the altar

00:37servers were for over 130 years hayes and finch have committed to supplying the requirements of

00:43the church i've been lucky enough to get a behind the scenes factory tour inside i was like a kid in

00:51a candy shop getting a glimpse into the inner workings of production here i couldn't quite

00:56believe my eyes when i saw how their candles were made they are so long the factory tour was really

01:04extensive and they were really keen to show me around the woodwork metal and garment rooms where a mix of

01:10craftsmanship and automation is used to create objects which will be used not only here in merseyside

01:17but around the world it's amazing to see the process that goes into making everyday and ecclesiastical

01:24objects we've found is tradition still works so if we've got some machines that are old but they

01:30still work then that's that's great we'll keep using them and then we'll look for automation with

01:34some new machinery as well so we've got a balance i would say of a bold tradition and then some new

01:39technology which definitely works for us hayes and finch first began in leed street in 1882 with

01:46william hayes and james finch the businesses survived two world wars and in 1969 they moved from the city center

01:54to new premises in aintree the site of the former mccano factory where they remain today it is very

02:00cheesy but it is like a family you know we all come in we say hello do you have a nice weekend we have

02:06a meeting every every wednesday morning just to catch up see how everyone is any problems but like i say it

02:13is a family from an outsider coming in i have just slotted right in between 1960 and 2015 the uk experienced one of the

02:22steepest drops in manufacturing employment among advanced economies second only to switzerland

02:28so it's great to see it's still alive and well right here in aintree so we've had to move with

02:34the times definitely as a business but then probably about 20 years ago we did look to diversify the

02:38business in some way so we've looked at period furniture we now supply our skill set of the metal

02:44shop into stately homes or town halls and then from the candle side we've moved into scented candles and

02:51diffusers so that's probably the biggest thing that we've we've done in the last maybe five or six

02:54years uh prior to that we did try every other avenue with all the other skill set