Allen Brothers (Fittings) Ltd has entered its third generation of family leadership, with Richard Allen taking over as managing director.
The change follows the retirement of Liz Adams, who has stepped down as managing director after many years leading the company.
Richard’s mother, Lindsay Allen, will remain with the company as director, continuing to support the business as it moves into its next chapter.
Allen Bros was co-founded by Richard’s grandfather Glenn Allen with his brother Tony in the 1950s, driven by their passion for sailing, engineering and innovation.
The pair initially produced fittings for their own race boats in their garden shed, and with the fittings proving to be an improvement on the hardware available at the time, demand quickly grew from other sailors.
In 1956, Tony and Glenn registered Allen Brothers (Fittings) Ltd with a vision of producing performance sailing hardware.
Over the years, Allen Bros has continued to invest in its engineering and manufacturing capabilities and now exports its products around the globe.
Manufacturing operations
Liz, Tony Allen’s daughter, took over the running of the company following the death of Richard’s father Kim Allen in 2015, continuing its growth and development as an international business.
She worked alongside her husband Graham Adams, who joined Allen Bros in 2016 as international business development manager and has also retired from the company.
In a statement, Allen Bros thanked Liz and Graham for their contribution to the company over the years and said their work has played an important role in shaping the business and building the foundations for the next generation.
Under Richard’s leadership, the company will remain family-owned, with its manufacturing operations continuing from its factory in Southminster, Essex.
Performance sailing hardware
“It’s a great opportunity to take Allen Brothers into its third generation,” said Richard.
“My grandfather started the company by making fittings for his own race boats, and that approach of solving problems and making better hardware is still very much part of what we do today.
“We want to continue where he left off, investing in engineering, manufacturing and product development to produce the best performance sailing hardware we can.
“We have a great team here at Allen, and we’ll continue to build on what has already been achieved while looking at where we can improve and develop.”
