Penn Elcom celebrates 50 years

Founded in 1974 by Roger Willems, Penn Elcom celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Having started out focusing on metals and anodising, the company has expanded and diversified over the years and now produces and supplies an array of infrastructural elements including flightcase hardware, racking, speaker component, cabling and LED lighting.

The manufacturer has a global infrastructure with bases in the UK, USA, Germany and China with over 600 employees. “So many fantastic people have contributed to making Penn Elcom what it is today,” remarked Willems. “Their collective personalities, foresight and diligence have helped shape the strong brand identity that sees us achieve this landmark anniversary.”

Roger Willems

Willems started the company at aged 26 in Penn, Buckinghamshire alongside his business partners David Wanstall and Ron Luzar, with the purchase of his first metal engineering plant called Penn Fabrications. Located on the “Penn Estate” industrial area, the business focused on steel fabrication, anodising and associated sub-contracting services.

In 1981, Willems met Andrew McCulloch of flightcase company, Bulldog Cases. McCulloch was seeking components such as handles, corners and butterfly clips and turned to Penn to start producing them, propelling an expansion in that side of the business.

Around the same time, the company also acquired Audiotec from Music Productiv and Willems’ good friend Phil Stratford went over from Buckinghamshire to manage the company together with his younger brother. Furthermore, another friend of Willems’, Frank McCourt, started up Penn Fabrication on the west coast of the USA, expanding the overall product portfolio to include cables and other installation elements. The next two decades saw more growth and diversification, with the company’s reach expanding to Canada, Australia, Latin America and other locales.

Another major business moment for Willems was the company’s launch in China which was born from a collaboration with Chinese entrepreneur Stanley Wong who together with Jesse Chen and their dedicated team, made Penn Elcom China an integral part of the business. Today, the company has two factories in the UK as well as a 180,000m² facility in Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, China.

Willems said he believes independent ownership has been instrumental in the company’s journey, stating: “It’s allowed us to remain agile and able to react to various situations and take decisions quickly as needed. This MO will keep us moving forward well into the future.”