LISTER engines are synonymous with Dursley with the factory being a part of the town since the mid 1800s and today the international company is still recognised for making some of the most robust and reliable engines, pumps and generators in the world. Gazette reporter Claire Marshall went to speak to the group managing director of Lister Petter, Brian Fuller, to find out how the company has changed.

AT ONE time around 3,000 people worked for R.A. Lister, either in their offices or foundry in Dursley. It has been a part of the community since it was created by Ashton Lister in 1867 and today it is still a large and very important employer in the town.

With around 250 staff in Dursley alone and 400 worldwide the company is still holding its own in the engineering market and the managing director Mr Fuller believes it is onwards and upwards for the business.

"We are definitely going in the right direction, we would like to get as big as we once were," he said. "The plan is to create more in the product range and to make more cost reductions so that we are very, very competitive."

Most people associate Lister’s with their diesel engines but they manufacture an extensive range of generators, pumps and engines for many different purposes and they market them all over the world.

Their products, particularly generators, are popular in developing parts of the world such as Africa and the Middle East. Their reliable generators, which can be hand-started, are vital pieces of equipment for deprived areas with no access to power supplies.

Their products will always be in demand in places without access to mains power, so are less vulnerable in the recession.

"So far we haven’t been hit hard by this recession," said Mr Fuller. "The markets that have really been hit have been the construction industry and anything to do with cars. Our products are still in demand, we have shipments going out to the Middle East all the time."

Lister Petter also suppliers a lot of engines to the US military and generators to the telecoms market for mobile phone masts.

During the mid-1980s the companies R.A. Lister and Petter Ltd merged to become Lister Petter but at the start of the 1990s the company was hit by a recession and around 500 jobs were cut.

Since then the company has been making leaps to get back to its former position in the world markets and has depots in Kansas, Miami, South Africa, Dubai, India, New Zealand and a partnership business in China.

Mr Fuller added: "I think we are still a very important company and an important employer in Dursley. A lot of people probably don’t fully realise what we do down here and that is a shame. But we fully expect to continue growing as a company over the next few years."