From personal tragedy to business success: how a Bryncrug mother overcame adversity to run an award-winning manufacturing company

Bethan Lawton can still remember the look on the face of the policeman who broke the news that her husband Graham had collapsed and died from a massive heart attack at the age of 39.

"I opened the front door with my daughter Sam by my feet and son Alan in my arms and the colour just drained from the officer's face. I think he expected to see someone older."

Beth was just 21. Her daughter was not quite two years old; her son just five months.

It was the second time in Beth's young life that tragedy had struck: when she was 15, her mother died of cancer.

"I recently saw a quote from JK Rowling that said: 'Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life'. I can pretty much say that was my rock bottom," Beth, now 61, recalls.

Supporting the family became her focus. "I used what small amount of insurance we had to buy our house in Maeshyfryd - where I still live - believing that at least I'd always have a roof over our heads. However, because we had no large outgoings, I found we were entitled to very little. I couldn't even get free school meals for my children."

The solution was not only to go back to work, but to take on two jobs. By day, Beth worked at the village nursery school; the evenings found her behind the bar of the Peniarth Arms. "Most of my pub wages went to a childminder, but it got me out while earning a little extra. Because I worked day and night, the only times the kids were really able to talk to me was when I was in the bath. They'd lie on the floor as if to say 'we've got her now'."

When Sam and Alan started school, Beth took a job at Greenaway UK, a Bryncrug-based manufacturer of special bolts for suspension units in vans and lorries started by her brother-in-law Keith Greenaway in 1974. In fact, it was her second time working at the factory: at 17, fresh out of Dolgellau College, where she learned shorthand and typing, she spent a year there as secretary.

"I went back to work in the office, part-time at first so that I could finish when the children came home from school," she remembers. "By the time they were nearing the end of secondary school, I was working there full-time and also looking after the pub on a one-week-on, one-week-off basis - living in because we were doing bed and breakfast."

By 2000, Beth was doing most of the admin at Greenaway - one of the UK's most successful manufacturers of its kind - and when Keith announced he wanted to retire, she and Will Pierce, who ran the production side of things, decided to take over the company. Both mortgaged their homes to buy 52 per cent of the business in 2001. 

Beth in the Greenaway office in 2001

"When we took over, we quickly realised the UK market for our product was disappearing and that we'd need to expand into Europe," explains Beth. "We used an agent and, with funding from grants, embarked on several European tours. Because our product is so niche, it was relatively easy to find possible customers. Unfortunately, they were pretty spread about - from Germany to Tunisia."

The tours paid off, with one of their best customers turning out to be a company in Holland that bought all its bolts from Greenaway and, in turn, was the sole supplier to Shmitz trailers.

"I think being a woman in engineering has mostly been an advantage, especially when we were scouting for customers in Europe. People would be surprised to see me - but it meant I stood out; they remembered me. I was that woman from Wales - I always emphasised Wales!"

In 2006, the company won International Business Wales's Welsh Exporter of the Year award and "things were looking good - we were confident of hitting a £1m turnover by 2010".

Then in 2008, the financial crash happened, and almost overnight Greenaway saw its order book slashed by 70 per cent.

Yet it weathered not only that storm, but subsequent ones: 12 years ago, Beth was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to take time off for treatment, relying on Gavin Ebery to run the office. Then one of Greenaway's biggest customers went bust, owing the company a lot of money, which forced Beth and Will to sell off part of the factory to DM Motorsports and surplus stock to Romania. 

However, even greater challenges lay ahead - Covid and Brexit. And now, with Will nearing his 65th birthday and wanting to retire, he and Beth have decided, albeit reluctantly, to close Greenaway. Almost 50 years since it started, the company will cease production at the end of 2023.

"We've reached the decision with deep regret," explains Beth, "but the increased costs, especially electricity, steel and freight, as well as tighter regulations, have proved to be the straw to break the camel's back. If we were in the Midlands, we'd probably have been able to sell the business, but as our bolts go to Liverpool for heat treatment and to Birmingham to be zinc-plated before coming back to Bryncrug for shipping, being in rural Wales doesn't make it very saleable.

"But we're working flat out until the end of the year to produce enough bolts to see our customers through until they can find an alternative supplier."

So what, now, for Beth, a confessed workaholic? For starters, she'll continue as an Independent Gwynedd county councillor, a job she's done since 2012. 

"I've loved every minute of being a county councillor," she says. "I've learned a lot, met amazing people, made new friends and, most importantly, managed to help people. To receive a message saying 'thank you Beth', even if it's only for listening, means the world. Being a councillor isn't easy, especially now with the massive financial cuts. I'd have liked to have been a councillor when there was money to spend."

The list of what Beth has done - and continues to do - within the community makes for lengthy reading. She's been the chair of school governors at two primary schools: Bryncrug before it closed and Ysgol Craig y Deryn; she's a member of Bryncrug Community Council and on the board of trustees of Dolgoch Falls and Ynysymaengwyn. She's also organised many events, from sheep dog trials to carnivals.

"I'm looking forward to doing new things now, as I love being busy. I love my holidays too and have already been to Australia for six weeks on my own. On my bucket list was 'have a bath with the Welsh rugby team - unfortunately they have showers now! - 'pick a pineapple', 'eat a Chinese meal in China' and 'cuddle a koala'. I've cuddled the koala, so let's see if I can do some of the other things! I'm looking forward to what the future may bring."

Of all the roles she's undertaken, Beth is proudest of being a mum and grandmother to four grandchildren aged between eight and 17. "I'm immensely proud of my children and what they've achieved - Alan works long hours lorry driving to support his family and Sam and her husband Robin started Brighter Foods - and I adore my grandchildren, who I will always encourage to do whatever they want to do."

Sad though she is to see Greenaway close, Beth is also proud of all she's achieved at the company. "Owning your own business isn't glamorous and often not fun - although I've had some fabulous experiences. But the main thing is that it enabled me to provide for my children and give them a work ethic of which I'm proud. It's been a rollercoaster, but I wouldn't change it for anything."

Beth and Will Pierce on the factory floor

Some of the last boxes of bolts ready for shipping

 

For nearly 50 years, Greenaway has flown the flag for Wales

Bryncrug playground: As councillor, Beth helped to secure grants for its refurbishment