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Managing Director, Steve Everitt, initially joined Exol as an accountant in 1990, before the business began to develop further and enter different markets. He tells Manufacturing Today about the strategy behind its growth over the last four decades and reveals more about recent technologies, products and processes: \u201cWhen the company first began 42 years ago, it focused primarily on industrial lubricants. After I joined the company, it started to expand into the automotive sector. Presently, we own two sites – a blending plant in Rotherham and our head office in Wednesbury, which is where we pack and distribute all our products. We manufacture lubricants for all industries, including automotive, industrial and agricultural – everything you can think of that involves an engine or a moving part! Most of our products are driven by OEM manufacturers, for example Ford or Vauxhall, and that\u2019s generally where a new product will develop from, one that is specific for a new engine, such as our latest new specification developed for Stellantis.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Steve explains that Exol passionately promotes the \u2018Made in England\u2019 aspect of the business – which signifies the quality of a product – and many customers are looking to buy quality products from England. \u201cI think this is primarily how we\u2019ve managed to grow in overseas markets,\u201d he continues. \u201cWe were delighted to win the King\u2019s Award for International Trade in 2025 and that achievement was largely due to demand for Exol branded products in those markets. Our plan is to develop further into Asia and Africa, markets we already have some loyal distributors in, as they value a Made in England lubricant. The next challenge is to find additional distributors to partner with in the free countries that would work well alongside our existing business. Once we find the right partners, we can really start to show them the benefits of working with Exol.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Alongside winning awards and expanding geographically, Exol also invests heavily in implementing new technologies within its facilities. Over the last few years, this has included its pigging line in Rotherham, Yorkshire, a \u00a31.2 million investment in a state-of-the-art automated liquid transfer system, delivered to reduce waste product lost during the blending process. Additionally, the company installed new \u2018Bag in the Box\u2019 packaging in January with the purpose also being to cut waste. \u201cSelling these boxes with the plastic bag inside means that our customers can take them on site, if they\u2019re repairing a hydraulic hose on a JCB, for example, and then they can remove the bag and flatten the box once they\u2019ve finished with the product. This obviously reduces a significant amount of waste and saves a lot of space in the delivery vehicles.\u201d Reducing waste and adapting processes to become more sustainable is an important part of the company\u2019s strategy. Not only is its Rotherham plant a green solution, but Exol also moves oil across the county via its barge, which is the most environmentally friendly fleet, and has won numerous environmental awards for this initiative, alongside the use of solar panels onsite at its head office in Wednesbury, West Midlands, to cut carbon emissions and save energy costs.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Redevelopment of its five-acre Wednesbury site is ongoing, following a \u00a35 million investment and purchase of an adjacent site. Planning permission for the additional two acres has been approved and Exol is in the process of building more warehouses, offices and parking spaces, with the project due to complete in spring 2027 and increase the company\u2019s capacity by approximately 40-to-50 percent.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nNew Technologies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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