SaltSep’s Company History
Explore SaltSep’s company history and discover how we have grown and evolved over the years. From our beginnings in 1990 to our latest innovations in water treatment solutions, our timeline highlights the key milestones, achievements and developments that have shaped our company.
March 1990
Salt Separation Services was founded by Stephen Grindrod and Kevin W Shackleton MBE.
1991
Moved to the Gorrell Street site.
1992
We recieved our 1st Semiconductor RO plant order.
1993
Our 1st offshore RO plant order.
1994
1st cruise ship retrofit RO plant order.
1995
The 1st Royal Navy RO plant order.
1997
ISO 9001 first certified.
1999
1st pharmaceutical RO plant order.
2001
We moved to our purpose-built offices at our Gorrell Street site.
2002
1st municipal RO plant / 1st power station RO plant.
2003
Moved into purpose-built workshops on our Gorrell Street site.
2005
Additional storage and test facility constructed on our Gorrell Street site.
2007
Kevin Shackleton retired, with Daniel Shackleton appointed Technical & Commercial Director.
2008
Awarded contract for QE class aircraft carriers RO plants, an MoD (Royal Navy) multi-year through-life support contract and a contract for RO plants for new cruise ships being constructed in Germany. (1st order for new-build cruise ships).
2011
1st full specification ATEX/Ex’d offshore plant/1st export to China.
2012
Directors Stephen Grindrod and Daniel Shackleton won Businessmen of the Year.
Awarded contract for largest plants built to date – 800m³/d two pass for the cruise industry.
2013
We secured our 1st submarine contract with the Royal Navy, marking an important milestone in our work within the defence sector.
2014
Number of employees reached 50 and we were named Rochdale Business of the Year in the £5 million+ turnover category.
2015
Additional premises purchased for future expansion.
2016
Awarded MoD (Royal Navy) support contract.
2017
CFAT for RMN LCS2 RO plants completed in Malaysia with our local agent, Allied Calibration Engineering Services.
October 2019
Tragic death of company founder, Stephen Grindrod.
November 2019
Sarah Ashworth appointed as Managing Director.
March 2020
Salt Separation Services hits 30 years old.
2021
Completed one of the most challenging commissioning jobs the company has ever faced due to COVID restrictions.
2022
Delivery of the final RO plants for the Anzac Remediation Program and we reached the highest number of employees ever – 81 in total.
2023
The formation of our Senior Leadership Team.
2024
The opening of our new canteen and the introduction of our ERP/MRP system. We also exceeded £10 million tunover.
November 2024
SaltSep won Rochdale Business of The Year 2024 (turnover over £5M)
2025
March 2025 marked 35 years of SaltSep and in the September, we launched SaltSep Academy, our engineering apprenticeship prgramme.
2026
In January we officially launched our new logo, followed by another major milestone in June when we reached 100 employees.