A LEIGH family-owned business is celebrating serving the community for 10 years.

Simply Bearings, owned by business entrepreneurs Steve and Dan Makin, is an online bearings and seals supplier which operates from Greenfold Way in Leigh.

The pair worked from two industrial containers until the company was big enough to move into new premises, which it did two years later and now occupies a 20,000 Sq ft building.

Having started with just one employee, in 2005, the company now employs 35 local people and will employ a further 15 people in the next two years to cope with the increase in the business.

Father-of-two Dan Makin, aged 49, said: “It is very important that we keep employing local people.

“Family is very important and so is community and both Steve and I live in the local area and we want to show the support for that community in what we do.

“We have got a strong team that is very loyal and as we have grown we have maintained the importance to be part of the lives of our comrades and keep up that relationship.”

Dan who has a background in marketing and finance and Steve in engineering, said the secret to their success is their customer service because “the customer is king”.

Mr Makin added: “We focus on customer service and treat our customers as best as we can and I think that is what has rewarded us and paid us back. Coupled together Steve and I have different assets and I think that is another reason to our success.

“We celebrated our 10 year milestone on Monday with a party and we are going on a team building exercise this weekend in Manchester which sounds really fun.”

Mayor of Wigan Borough Susan Loudon said: "I was pleased to be able to join Simply Bearings to celebrate their 10 years of business.

"Their achievements ...from a shed at the bottom of the garden to an international business is a fantastic story but to be based in Leigh employing local people is doubly amazing.

"It was a pleasure to meet the owners and the staff and I wish them well."