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Stan by MeWe’ve profiled quite a few self-made entrepreneurs. But we don’t think we’ve ever

met anybody quite like Stan Ensinger. Brought up in the East End of the 40’s and50’s, Stan’s as sharp as ninepence.

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the man who founded storage specialists Silverline, and isreviving it right now, has a wonderful collection of greatanecdotes – far too many to squeeze into these four pages. He’s

good company is Stan, but it’s his straightforward attitude to good oldfashioned hard work that shines through. We’ll let him tell you howthat ‘notion was ingrained’.

‘I was born and bred in the East End – a cockney from Hackney.When I was five months old my mum died – my grandma was mymum. I grew up in a proper East End family in a terraced house.Every evening after our meal, the table would be cleared andgrandma would bring out whatever piecework she had, and we allgot stuck in. We made thousands of hairbrushes and felt slippers, itwas pin money but we needed it. The notion that you have got towork for a living was ingrained in me.

‘At school I was good at maths but didn’t have enoughqualifications, so went to nightschool to get an ONC in mechanicalengineering. As a 15 year old I tried all sorts of jobs. The best one

was at the Star and News Chronicle in Fleet Street. I assisted the sub-editors, went out to collect copy (from the likes of EamonnAndrews), and supplied the tea – I admit I watered it down a bit tomake a few bob. The jewel in the crown was opening the post – Ikept all the foreign stamps and ran a small stamp dealing business onthe side!

‘Unfortunately, by cycling to work through many pea souperswhere visibility was just a few yards, I contracted TB – although Iwas lucky. I had an operation where they cut my throat and crushedthe phrenic nerve, which stopped my right lung working. Then I wassent to a country hospital in Hertfordshire to be injected with drugsto cure the lung. After eight months it started working again and Iwas cured. I was by far the youngest patient there; during my stay fivepatients died from the disease.

‘After recuperating I decided that Fleet Street from Hackney wastoo far in the often very foggy weather, so I joined Courtney Pope inTottenham. I was bright and keen – by 20 I was Chief Estimator and

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Buyer. We had a problem getting gear trays made for light fittings so Ioffered to make them at home. The family converted the cellar into aworkshop – where all the family and a few friends worked.

‘While I was still at Courtney Pope I started to think seriouslyabout what I could do to improve my life. So, I went to the bank and

persuaded them to lend me £1,000 for each property I bought. At itspeak, my partner Gordon and I had 14 terraced houses, which werented out. We would do up the properties after work, and often notget home until after midnight. One Friday night we went to collectthe rent from our property in Crampton Road, Sydenham. As I came

down the path, policemen appeared fromeverywhere; I was pinned up against thedoor – I can still remember the policeAlsatian quite clearly! It turned out that ourquiet mild-mannered tenant was theinfamous ‘Tattooed Gunman’, who justbefore we turned up had got away over therailway line that backed the property. Whenhe was actually caught in Hornsey twoweeks later, his lurid lifestyle madeheadlines in the papers.

‘My accountant told me I was wastingmy time at Courtney Pope and that I coulddo better. I realised I wasn’t stretchingmyself either – I was starting to work parttime and playing golf. So I started abusiness making fluorescent light fittings. Atfirst I worked from home, sub-contractingthe metal out and assembling in my garage,but as we got busier this couldn’t last.

‘With a few friends we would, over aweekend, replace all the lighting on aparticular floor in buildings, mainly in theBishopsgate area of London – we did thelighting for the Stock Exchange through anarchitect friend. As the business grew, Irented a factory in Hertford to make themetal, and another one in Enfield forpainting, assembly and quality control. Bynow I was also getting quite a lot ofbusiness from the likes of Thorn and Philipsas a sub-contractor, making fittings forthem. I was employing about 30, earningOK money but not a fortune.

‘One day Sankey Sheldon asked us tomake lockers for them – just anothercustomer. Then a little later, a furnituredealer asked us to make a filing cabinet.Soon we were very busy; adding a smallnightshift to make the office furniture asthe business grew.

‘We were outgrowing the factories inHertford and Enfield but a couple of thingshappened that prompted the move toMildenhall. The factory in Enfield was aconverted dance hall next to a McMullenspub. When the lease came up for renewal,the brewer wanted to increase the rent five-fold. As well as that, we’d got into thenational dailies for the wrong reason! Wedegreased the metal with Tricoethylene –

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����������dangerous stuff with fumes. One night a lady walking her dog sawwhat she thought was smoke and called for the fire brigade. They allfell over like ninepins when they entered the building withoutprotection. It was definitely time to get a proper factory.

‘I recruited a guy from Courtney Pope’s powder coating supplier– who were based in Mildenhall. He recommended Mildenhall as a

nice place to live and work, so we came and had a look and met thecouncil. We started just down the road in Hampstead Avenue anddeveloped the site. By 2004 we’d outgrown it, so with my pensionfund we built this 120,000 sq ft factory on James Carter Road.

‘I thought I wanted to retire. My senior colleagues said I’d earnedit and wanted me to step aside. So I agreed to an MBO, which sold

70% of the business, spread over five yearsfrom April 2008. Very quickly the companylost direction, some wrong decisions weremade and the company went into a CVA atthe end of 2010. This was caused by acomplete lack of support from our bankers.Having been with them for the last nineyears, with virtually all of them beingprofitable, we were very disappointed that thefirst time we requested an overdraft we wererefused. You can imagine my views on theirapproach to the situation, which if allowed toprevail would have brought about the demiseof the company.

‘There were still no corrective actionsfrom the management team so I came backinto the business full time from early April2011. It was clear what wasn’t working –which was chiefly in the manufacturingcostings area.

‘I acted decisively and quickly, sorted outthe pricing issues and set about changing themanagement. It’s always been a good,profitable company. It’s my baby and it’sgoing to be a successful company once again.

‘Going forward, we are really turning thecompany around again…profitably. Silverlineis once again owned by the Ensinger family,with Richard Ward as the only othershareholder at present. People ask me why, at73, I’m still doing this. The truth is I’m herefor the long run. After five or six months inPortugal I realised I missed the people, thebusiness. As they say, I thought I wanted toretire – I now know I don’t.’

If you cast your mind back to thebeginning of this piece, we hinted at Stan’streasure trove of anecdotes.

We’ve run out of space, but, if you get thechance, ask Stan yourself about his horseracing days. Winning the Midlands GrandNational at Uttoxeter, Jenny Pitman astrainer, great stories. But in particular, askStan to tell you about the time at anunlicensed greyhound track when the bookiesaid, ‘Well done son, you’ve pulled off a goodcoup, but if I see you again, I’ll blow yourlegs off!’

As we said, we’ve never profiled anentrepreneur quite like Stan Ensinger!

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