Hayes & Finch in Aintree have been supplying churches with everything they need for this moveable feast since 1882.
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00:00chocolate eggs fluffy chicks and a bank holiday even though you can't always guarantee the weather
00:06easter is still a time of joy for many this movable feast is one of the most important
00:11times in the christian calendar there's one massive business which plays a huge role in
00:16the celebrations there behind the scenes making major parts of the religious aspects of the
00:22holiday so we are an ecclesiastical supplier so we supply everything you see in the church
00:27right the way down to the pews you sit on to the wine you drink to the altar bread you eat
00:31and then obviously all the candles um all the vestments that the priest were and all the altar
00:37servers were for over 130 years hayes and finch have committed to supplying the requirements of
00:43the church i've been lucky enough to get a behind the scenes factory tour inside i was like a kid in
00:51a candy shop getting a glimpse into the inner workings of production here i couldn't quite
00:56believe my eyes when i saw how their candles were made they are so long the factory tour was really
01:04extensive and they were really keen to show me around the woodwork metal and garment rooms where a mix of
01:10craftsmanship and automation is used to create objects which will be used not only here in merseyside
01:17but around the world it's amazing to see the process that goes into making everyday and ecclesiastical
01:24objects we've found is tradition still works so if we've got some machines that are old but they
01:30still work then that's that's great we'll keep using them and then we'll look for automation with
01:34some new machinery as well so we've got a balance i would say of a bold tradition and then some new
01:39technology which definitely works for us hayes and finch first began in leed street in 1882 with
01:46william hayes and james finch the businesses survived two world wars and in 1969 they moved from the city center
01:54to new premises in aintree the site of the former mccano factory where they remain today it is very
02:00cheesy but it is like a family you know we all come in we say hello do you have a nice weekend we have
02:06a meeting every every wednesday morning just to catch up see how everyone is any problems but like i say it
02:13is a family from an outsider coming in i have just slotted right in between 1960 and 2015 the uk experienced one of the
02:22steepest drops in manufacturing employment among advanced economies second only to switzerland
02:28so it's great to see it's still alive and well right here in aintree so we've had to move with
02:34the times definitely as a business but then probably about 20 years ago we did look to diversify the
02:38business in some way so we've looked at period furniture we now supply our skill set of the metal
02:44shop into stately homes or town halls and then from the candle side we've moved into scented candles and
02:51diffusers so that's probably the biggest thing that we've we've done in the last maybe five or six
02:54years uh prior to that we did try every other avenue with all the other skill set