4th Aug 2025
As far as family businesses go, Yorkshire Precision Engineering is about as family-orientated as it gets. Michael Laybourne – now retired – started the company in 2001, but his two sons, Jack and Sam, as Technical and Managing Director respectively, and his wife Lynda as Company Secretary, are all still very much involved on a day-to-day basis.
Like many of YPEL’s staff, both Jack and Sam are time-served engineers. “We’re very hands-on and program and set every machine ourselves,” Jack affirms.
There’s something wholesome and organically satisfying about a family engineering business that literally starts from nothing and evolves into something progressive and profitable.
It was actually Lynda Laybourne who planted the seed in husband Michael’s mind about starting his own business. “Michael was working for an aerospace company back then and I was running my own bookkeeping business,” she explains.
“I had a number of successful trade/manufacturing companies as customers, and I began to realise that the people behind these businesses were just normal, everyday people with drive and ambition. I suggested that with all his manufacturing experience, Michael could start his own company – and that’s exactly what happened.”
