About Farleygreene

Antony Hare

Antony Hare has been part of Farleygreene since 1993, when he joined as a machine fitter on the factory floor. Today, as Managing Director, he leads a business that operates in nearly 30 countries and has been designing and manufacturing industrial sieving equipment for 50 years. The journey through every department in the company, through periods of significant change, and through the personal challenge of taking over a family business at short notice, has shaped both the leader and the company he runs.

A business founded on engineering principle

Farleygreene was founded in 1976 by Antony’s father, Alan Hare, and his business partner Peter Davies. Both were chief design engineers who set out to build sieving equipment to a higher standard than the market was offering at the time. The founding principle was straightforward: engineer it properly, build it to last and stand behind it. That principle has not changed in 50 years of operation.

Antony did not initially plan to join the family business. When he did, his father made a deliberate decision to start him on the factory floor as a machine fitter, learning the product from the inside out. It was not always comfortable at the time, but it proved formative.

“My father never gave me an easy ride. He wanted me to understand how everything worked – the machines, the people, the process. Looking back, that was a great gift: a deep experience which helps me understand how to serve our customers better.”

Antony worked his way through every department, from design, testing and manufacturing, to sales, before taking on a leadership role. This breadth of hands-on experience underpins how he runs the business today.

Evolving the manufacturing model

In the early 2000s, Farleygreene moved to a subcontracted component model, sourcing fabricated parts from trusted local UK suppliers and carrying out final assembly at their Hampshire facility. Two decades later, the decision was made to bring fabrication progressively back in-house, for greater control over quality, lead times and cost. Today the workshop team has grown to seven, with continued investment in new tooling (including an imminent laser cutter) and the expectation of reaching approximately 70% in-house production. All manufacturing remains UK-based.

“The move back to in-house fabrication is about quality and control as much as cost. When your manufacturing team is in the same building as your engineers, problems get solved faster, and the product gets better. That’s good for us and good for our customers.”

Stepping up – and raising the standard

The 2008 financial crisis had created an opening for smaller, more responsive suppliers, as customers who had previously worked exclusively with larger manufacturers began looking for alternatives. When Antony stepped up to lead the business following his father’s sudden death in March 2010, Farleygreene was well placed to capitalise on that shift.

The following year brought one of the company’s most significant commercial breakthroughs. A French OEM (which later became part of the Tetra Pak group) tasked an engineering intern to explore alternative sieving suppliers internationally. They found Farleygreene, requested a quote, and worked closely with the team to develop a solution that met their requirements precisely. The result was addition to a key approved supplier list, which in turn opened the door to relationships with major global food manufacturers including Nestlé and Danone, and to a significant increase in OEM business.

“That period taught us a lot. Larger customers with demanding specifications found that we could match or exceed what they were getting elsewhere – and we were easy to work with. We respond fast, we are flexible, and when something needs solving, we solve it. That reputation has stayed with us.”

The episode also reinforced the company’s commitment to high-specification manufacturing as standard. Where some suppliers offer upgraded materials such as 316 grade stainless steel (required for all food-contact components) as a premium option, Farleygreene’s baseline specification reflects what demanding customers actually need.

How Farleygreene works with customers today

The business today supplies sieving and screening equipment across food and drink, pharmaceutical, chemical, and additive manufacturing sectors. Orders range from standard configurations through to fully bespoke solutions designed for a specific application – some of which become the basis for new standard products. The engineering team’s experience across decades of applications means they can identify where a standard configuration needs adapting, and have the in-house capability to make those changes without compromising delivery or quality.

Every enquiry is supported by a material testing database built up over decades, allowing the team to predict how a specific product will behave on a given machine and advise accordingly. Customers frequently arrive with assumptions about their material (such as particle size, flow behaviour or bulk density) that testing reveals to be incomplete. Getting that right before the machine is specified saves considerable time and cost downstream.

“Customers often arrive with a specification based on what they think their product is. Our testing frequently reveals something different. Getting that right before the machine is built saves a lot of problems later.”

The engineering team works in SolidWorks, which has transformed both the design process and the customer experience. 3D models allow customers to visualise exactly how equipment will integrate into their production line before a machine is built, reducing installation surprises and speeding up internal approvals.

The six-step consultation process – from initial application request through to ongoing support – is designed to ensure nothing is assumed and nothing is missed. Farleygreene operates a structured follow-up process after every delivery to capture feedback and ensure the engineering team has visibility of real-world performance. When issues arise, they are tracked, addressed, and fed back into the product development process.

“When something goes wrong – as occasionally they do – the way we deal with it tells customers more about us than when everything runs smoothly. We take it seriously and work hard to be a company that’s there for customers for the long term, not just until the machine is installed.”

UK manufacturing, global reach

All Farleygreene equipment is designed and built in the UK, certified to ISO 9001, ATEX, CE, and UKCA standards, and supported by a global distributor network covering nearly 30 countries. For the large multinationals that now form a significant part of the customer base, UK manufacture and internationally recognised certification are precisely what their procurement standards require.

The company has also retained the scale and culture that allows it to work differently from larger competitors. Customer relationships are direct and long-standing – some customers have been with Farleygreene for decades. Decades of application experience mean the engineering team can identify where modifications are needed and make them in-house – without compromising on delivery or quality. The people making the decisions are the same people who built the product and know it in detail.

“We’ve spent 50 years earning the trust of some of the most demanding customers in the world,” confirms Antony. “In the sieving industry, experience and expertise are what that trust is built on – and we continue to demonstrate both.”

Find out more about Farleygreene

To learn more about Farleygreene’s history, products, and approach, visit the About Farleygreene page, explore the full sieving and screening product range, or contact the team to discuss your requirements.

About the author

Antony Hare is Managing Director of Farleygreene, a position he has held since 2010. He joined the company in 1993 and has worked across every department of the business. Connect with Antony on LinkedIn.

Luke Wilcox

Luke Wilcox joined Farleygreene ten years ago as a graduate design engineer. Since then, he has held almost every technical role in the business – design, certification, quality, and now manufacturing operations. That breadth of experience shapes how Farleygreene’s equipment is built, checked and delivered to customers with the most demanding process and hygiene requirements.

A career built across every technical discipline

Luke arrived at Farleygreene straight from his engineering degree and moved quickly into senior design work – developing both standard product designs and bespoke configurations for customers with specific process, hygiene or installation requirements. Feed inlet positions, frame mounting arrangements, cleaning access points: all of it designed from the outset to meet the hygiene standards demanded by food and pharmaceutical production.

From design, Luke moved into the technical and certification side of the business, taking responsibility for ISO 9001 compliance and QAN audits, ATEX certification, and the regulatory documentation that underpins every machine manufactured by Farleygreene. The role required him to demonstrate not just that individual products were safe, but that the company’s processes were too.

A period as Quality Manager followed: overseeing goods-in inspection, supplier management, customer complaints, and the technical files required for external certification of every machine as well as Farleygreene itself.

“Working across design, certification and quality has given me a really clear understanding of the high standards we must meet with every sieve machine we produce. It means I approach manufacturing with a constant drive to produce the best.”

Taking manufacturing in-house

Farleygreene sieving machines have always been manufactured in the UK, but until recently, Farleygreene relied on subcontractors for many components, with final assembly carried out on-site in Hampshire. Now, the team are bringing fabrication in-house, driven by growth, greater ability to control quality, and the need for faster turnaround. Today, Luke manages a team of five specialist welders, alongside inspection and an expanding range of on-site fabrication equipment.

As Luke confirms, the shift has been significant for customers as well as the business. With design and manufacturing under the same roof, the feedback loop between the engineering team and the workshop is immediate.

“Design queries get resolved in hours rather than days. Bespoke requirements can be prototyped, checked and refined without the delays that come with external suppliers. And costs passed on to customers are meaningfully lower.”

Why welding quality is key

Hygiene standards and the ability to keep machinery clean are critical in sectors such as food, pharmaceuticals, and chemical processing. Maintaining hygiene standards in sieving operations depends on much more than the design of the sieve: the quality of every weld on the finished product is crucial.

Farleygreene manufactures exclusively in 316 stainless steel, a premium alloy renowned for its superior durability and outstanding resistance to corrosion and the industry standard for hygienic applications. But the material choice is only part of the story.

Luke’s welding team works across MIG, TIG and laser welding processes, depending on the joint, the application, and the hygiene requirement – which extends beyond the generic standard of general fabrication.

“You can look at machines from other suppliers and see where the detail hasn’t been followed through. Welds that aren’t properly joined, surfaces that haven’t been finished correctly. Our guys take real pride in their work – tight seam welds, good fabrication, an eye for detail. It looks better, and more importantly it performs better in a hygienic environment.”

A fill-in weld used to compensate for poorly fitting components may appear to close a gap, but the resulting surface can lack the smooth, continuous finish required for effective hygiene and cleaning. In a food or pharmaceutical environment, that is not acceptable. Strength and durability can also be compromised if corners are cut in this advanced manufacturing sector. Luke’s team is trained to fit components accurately before welding, giving the highest level of protection and resilience.

The same high standard across every sector

Farleygreene supplies sieving equipment across sectors including food and drink, pharmaceutical, chemical, and additive manufacturing. The manufacturing standard applied is consistent across all of them, because the hygiene and safety requirements of food and pharmaceutical production set the quality standard.

There are limited areas where customers can choose to specify differently. Surface finish options such as mechanical polish or beadblast, for example, may not be required for all applications and can represent a cost saving where hygiene standards permit it. But the underlying manufacturing quality of the weld integrity, the material specification, and the dimensional accuracy do not vary.

“We try to apply the same high standard whatever the sector. It’s easier to maintain quality consistently than to manage different standards for different customers. And it means every customer gets a machine that’s built properly, whatever their application.”

Continuous improvement as standard

Luke’s role spans not just day-to-day manufacturing operations but the ongoing development of Farleygreene’s production capability. New tooling is designed and built in-house where needed to achieve specific customer requirements.

The same engineering rigour that shapes the production process applies to the company’s certification and compliance work. ATEX certification, ISO 9001 accreditation, and the technical documentation required for international supply are all maintained and developed as the regulatory landscape evolves. All this is underpinned by the institutional knowledge Luke has built across every technical function in the business.

Speak to the Farleygreene team

To find out more about how Farleygreene’s equipment is designed and built, or to discuss a specific manufacturing or application requirement, contact us or connect with Luke on LinkedIn.

About the author

Luke Wilcox is Manufacturing Operations Manager at Farleygreene, with a decade of experience spanning design engineering, technical certification, quality management, and production. Connect with Luke on LinkedIn.

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