IN our series A Day In The Life, we profile East Lancashire's movers and shakers. We spoke to managing director of Metflex John Holland.

WHEN John Holland joined precision rubber mouldings firm Metflex little did he know one day he would own the firm.

The 43-year-old got a job at the Great Harwood firm in the mid-1980s as a shift supervisor to gain man-management experience.

After rising through the ranks, he last year became the boss when he bought Metflex in a multi-million pound deal from Lawrence Irvine and Phil Tempest.

Today, the Queen Street company, which employs 100 staff, has a presence in nearly every home in the UK.

Metflex is looking to expand across the globe and sells to countries including the US, Canada, Iran, Pakistan and China.

The firm's main products include producing rubber diaphragms for gas meters which help move the gas through the meters.

It also makes diaphragms for regulators which sit on top of meters to make sure the correct pressure of gas flows in.

Mr Holland said: "I came to Metflex as shift supervisor to gain some man management experience.

"It was probably the second biggest company in Great Harwood with about 200 staff behind the Oxo factory which employed about 500.

"We are probably producing as much now as we were then with the changes in machinery and different techniques.

"We are in very niche markets and are heavily involved in the gas industry to such an extent that in nearly every household of the UK there is something that will have been manufactured by Metflex.

"We supply these world wide so there is a lot of reliance world wide on Metflex."

Mr Holland joined Atkinson's in Clitheroe as an apprentice mechanical engineer in 1979 after leaving St Christopher's High School, Accrington.

After eight years he joined Metflex and was promoted to technical director, then production director before becoming managing director.

Mr Holland, who grew up in Great Harwood and lives in Rishton, also studied a NVQ level five in senior management at Lancaster University.

Metflex moved to East Lancashire in 1941 from London after the factory was bombed.

It used to make leather mouldings but had to change to rubber with the introduction of North Sea gas which eroded the leather.

As well as producing 110,000 gas meter diaphragms and 150,000 regulator components a week, Metflex also makes about 20,000 rubber mouldings for hi-fi speakers to improve acoustics.

The firm also produces parts for power-transmission units which are fitted to ships and high speed trains. These act as shock absorbers to make the units work more smoothly.

Last year Metflex recorded its best results in its 77-year history with a turnover of £6million and sales increasing by £1million.

The company has developed a new product which contains a reinforced material.

Mr Holland added: "There are more competitors out there now with competition from eastern Europe and China and Malaysia.

"We have had products out there for longer than 20 years so it is difficult for people to introduce new products and for manufacturers to change products because if something goes wrong the manufacturers will lose a lot of money."