Since 1939, Havant Sheet Metal has been quietly shaping some of the world’s most demanding industries. They can’t always tell you what they make. But the evidence speaks for itself. Deep Roots, Strong Steel
There’s a quiet confidence about Havant Sheet Metal that comes from knowing who you are. Founded in 1939 and occupying the same 30,000 sq ft site since the 1950s, this is a business that has outlasted wars, recessions and pandemics and is only getting stronger.
Originally a family-owned enterprise, the company underwent a management buyout around 12-13 years ago. Today, it is owned solely by Paul Rebetts, who has built a tight, empowered leadership team around him: Jolene Towner heads up accountancy and HR, Tony Molloy drives operations, and Carl Benfield, who has been with the company for 30 years, leads sales and marketing.
Carl’s own story mirrors the company’s values perfectly. He joined as a trainee, worked his way through virtually every operation on the shop floor, rose through supervisor roles, took charge of day-to-day production, and eventually found his calling in sales. “Learning to do the quoting was easy,” he says, “because I was used to the production methods. I had a feel for it.For a site with just under 50 employees, we do some fantastic work.” The One-Stop Shop
Walk into Havant Sheet Metal‘s facility and the breadth of capability is immediately striking. Laser cutting, punching, graining, deburring, power presses and press brakes sit alongside five welding bays, one of which houses a brand-new laser welding area. Add in a dedicated machine shop, tube forming, a fully equipped paint shop and inspection areas, and you begin to understand why the company positions itself as a true one-stop shop for precision sheet metal fabrication.
“Our aim is to undertake all those operations in-house so we can manage quality, timeline and meet the customer’s expectations,” explains Carl. As subcontractors rather than design authorities, they work from customer drawings and models, but they bring far more to the table than simple execution. Their ‘design for manufacture’ approach means they’ll regularly identify smarter ways to make a component: better efficiencies, cost savings, sometimes fundamentally improved processes.
The most recent investment underlines the point. A £30,000 laser welding installation was committed to specifically for an upcoming project with a large boiler manufacturer in Yorkshire. “We will invest if we know the work is there,” says Carl. “And we’ll make the project work better for our customers as well.”
“For a site with just under 50 employees, we do some fantastic work.”
From Pharma to Defence – And Beyond
Havant Sheet Metal operates across an impressively diverse range of sectors: pharmaceutical, defence, aviation, marine, audio equipment, electronics and medical devices. They specialise particularly in pharmaceutical and defence work, and in both cases, the stories behind the contracts are remarkable, even if they can rarely be told in full.
Take the COVID-19 vaccines. At a recent industry meeting, representatives from Pall Europe and Cytiva were rightly proud of their role in the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine rollout. What they may not have realised, and what Havant Sheet Metal still can’t shout about due to confidentiality agreements, is that Havant was instrumental in helping to upscale the vaccine production process.
Defence contracts are similarly impressive. The company has worked on projects with components destined for nuclear submarines, and new work is already underway for a Dutch shipyard. They supply into high-profile prime contractors as a Tier 1-2 supplier — and while NDAs mean the specifics stay under wraps, within the industry, people know.
With global defence spending on the rise, that pipeline is looking increasingly healthy. “The way the world is at the minute, defence is becoming more prevalent and we’re seeing an uptick,” says Carl.
People First
At Havant Sheet Metal, culture isn’t a slide in a presentation. The company recently introduced a four-day working week, with employees working an extra hour each day Monday to Thursday, keeping Friday available for optional overtime. The results have already been noticeable: staff are coming in more refreshed, morale is higher, and productivity has held up strongly.
“I know people use work-life balance as a sound bite these days,” Carl admits, “but it is important. And the difference is amazing.” Alongside the shorter week, the company has been rolling out enhanced welfare benefits, including access to online medical services for all staff — a meaningful step in an industry that doesn’t always prioritise shop floor wellbeing.
Staff retention is a genuine point of pride. The company takes on T Level students and apprentices on an ongoing basis, offering real mentorship rather than a tick-box approach, and actively works to keep them once their training is complete. “We’ve invested a lot of time and energy into them,” says Carl. “We want them to stay with us.” With four current vacancies to fill, the focus now is on finding the right people to grow the team further.
Underpinning all of this is a collaborative leadership culture. Monthly off-site management meetings between Carl, Jolene, Tony and owner Paul Rebetts ensure challenges are identified early and action plans are put in place quickly. “No one here is on their own,” says Carl. “If something goes wrong, we’re quite open, and we’ll work together to find a resolution.”
Eyes on the Horizon
2025 was a challenging year for many UK manufacturers with contracts taking longer to land, economic uncertainty making hiring decisions fraught, and Havant Sheet Metal was not immune. But the company enters 2026 with a strong forward order book, a clear five-year growth plan, and the kind of optimism that comes from real foundations.
The ambition is bold: to double turnover over the next five years. Achieving that will mean forging the right stocking partnerships, deepening existing customer relationships, investing in automation and digitisation where it makes sense, and continuing to attend regional defence cluster and engineering meetings where business is built on trust and word of mouth.
A potential site move is on the longer-term horizon too. Not because the current facility is failing, but because growth demands space. “We know how we want to grow the business,” says Carl. “We just want to keep growing: sustainably, not recklessly.”
In the meantime, MACH 2026 represents exactly the kind of opportunity Havant Sheet Metal embraces. They welcome around 20 customer visits per month to the site or out to clients, because face-to-face contact is where relationships are built and where, as Carl puts it, people are surprised by just how much this compact, expert team can actually do. “Even existing customers come in and say, ‘Oh, I didn’t realise you did this!’ We like to surprise people.”
This article is part of the SMI MACH Publication — the must-read print publication that puts the spotlight on the innovations, partnerships, and people shaping the future of UK manufacturing. Don’t miss the full issue, click here to read more.
