The regional AM, Eleanor Burnham, was bowled over by what she saw during her visit to Ifor Williams Trailers, Europe’s leading trailer maker.

She was taken on a tour of the company’s headquarters in Cynwyd, which is less than a mile from where she was brought up.

The talented soprano, who has won a prize at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, has recently started performing publicly again and appeared on radio and television.

She believes that Ifor Williams Trailer are also hitting the right notes as they ride the recession.

Ms Burnham hailed the company as an inspiration to other Welsh manufacturers.

They have a network of 50 UK distributors across the UK and 40 distributors across Europe and as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.

In a year, the firm uses enough steel to build the equivalent of one and a half Eiffel Towers.

Meanwhile, sales have doubled in Germany where the respected equine magazine, Cavallo, recently declared the company’s flagship horsebox was the best in Europe.

The judges gave the HB506 from Ifor Williams Trailers their seal of approval after concluding it was the most comfortable, horse-friendly horsebox among the seven models they tested.

After the factory tour, Ms Burnham said: "It has been a great pleasure to come here today especially as I was raised locally, across the river.

"Over the years I have frequently flagged up the success of Ifor Williams Trailers in the Assembly.

"It is great to see what happens here at first hand because it is one of the most important companies in North Wales.

"The international success of the company is fantastic and an inspiration to other indigenous companies.

"We are in a difficult economic climate but Ifor Williams Trailers are showing the way forward.

"The fact that so many people are employed on extremely good wages means that the company is a vital part of the economy here.

"The working environment is extremely clean and well ordered – I have been in other places where the conditions aren’t as good as this.

"I don’t think that Ifor Williams Trailers have received the praise that they deserve. As a nation, we don’t give enough credit where it is due.

"The brand is iconic and it’s a source of great pride to see them flying the flag for Wales - I know that they come from Cynwyd and I come from Cynwyd!

"The design and the enduring quality of the trailers are impressive and I have seen them across Europe – and even as far afield as New Zealand where I have relatives who farm there.

"I hope that Ifor Williams Trailers goes from strength to strength in the future."

John Williams, the Managing Director, said: "We were impressed with the insight and interest shown by Eleanor Burnham.

"Everything we do here is geared to being world class – our watchwords are quality, cost and delivery.

"The reputation of the company is very much founded on quality and durability.

"We celebrated our 50th anniversary in 2008 and Ifor Williams Trailers has now made nearly 600,000 trailers. We are very proud of the company’s continuing success story."

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News » AM sings the praise of iconic brand