To paraphrase Charles Dickens, “it was the worst of nights, it was the best of nights”.

Worst because Saturday, August 14, 2010 could have marked the end of family engineering business Airedale Springs after more than 60 years.

Best because, after the turmoil caused by the blaze, the potential disaster has given chairman Tim Parkinson and his team an opportunity to reshape and refocus the business on operations and products with the most growth potential.

That balmy August night was when the firm’s base in a listed Victorian Haworth mill went up in flames and was largely destroyed. More than 70 firefighters from across Bradford district tackled the blaze, using more than 12 fire appliances. The top three storeys of the 140-year-old Ebor Lane mill were destroyed and the building had to be demolished.

The morning after, Tim Parkinson surveyed the extensive damage to the firm’s site and vowed that the business would continue and rise from the ashes.

“The choice we were faced with as a family was, should we shut up shop or carry on. That discussion never took place. It was never a question of whether we would carry on but how soon we could get back on track,” Tim told me sitting in the boardroom at Airedale Springs’ spanking new factory just across the road from the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway depot.

Like most of the best-laid plans, getting the business fully operational took longer than expected following a prolonged haggle over the insurance claim, which delayed progress on the new base for 11 months.

Tim said the fire and its aftermath was the toughest experience he and the business had ever been through, including finding out who his real friends were. In the immediate aftermath of the blaze Airedale Springs relied heavily on the help of some competitors to maintain any kind of production, with some workers travelling to other factories to use rivals’ equipment.

For a time the firm’s office operated from Haworth’s nearby Masonic Hall after an offer of accommodation.

Throughout the post-fire period the Parkinson family – Tim is the third generation to run the business – used their own resources to enable it to carry on and pay the then 44 staff, many of them long-serving, which has since reduced to 33 following two deaths, redundancies and natural wastage.

The Bishop of Bradford, the Rt Rev Nick Baines officially opened Airedale’s new £3.5 million building off Bridgehouse Lane – dubbed The Spring Works – last month during a tour of businesses in his diocese.

Representatives from those competitor firms which helped Airedale Springs out after the fire were among the guests as the company, established in 1945, unveiled its state-of-the-art production facility.

Tim told guests: “The business has been reborn wiser and fitter than before. I put it down to heavenly support and human application. Our faith has always been important.”

Airedale Springs was established in 1945 by Gordon Parkinson, followed by his son, Michael, who retired in 2000 after a lifetime in the business, to be succeeded by his two sons, Tim and Sean, who is commercial director.

The new 18,000sq ft site includes the latest ‘green’ features such as solar panels, low-energy LED lighting and measures to meet European energy-efficiency guidelines.

Much of the investment has gone into state-of-the art machinery to make a wide range of wire-based products, from one-off custom jobs to larger orders and bigger components, many of which Airedale’s skilled engineers design in partnership with customers to meet a specific need.

Its springs go into countless end-uses, including agricultural machinery, classic cars, computer equipment, electrical cabling and equipment, engineering tools furniture, healthcare, packing machines switch gear, textile machinery, valves and vending machines.

“Our philosophy of small enough to care, big enough to mean business is a motto we have lived up to for over 60 years. Now we’re starting again with a blank sheet in an energy-efficient modern factory. The 11-month delay in settling the insurance claim gave us time to take stock and consider how to take the business forward.

“The new site gives us the ability to increase capacity by 50 per cent and extend our product range to include areas such as wire forming, while still retaining our business principles. When people come to see us they are impressed with the new site, which definitely has a ‘wow’ factor.

“We’ve invested in new and sophisticated machinery that gives us much more flexibility and the ability to work closely with product designers and give them exactly what they want. Our engineers can be part of the process from original concept through to samples and then full production,” said Tim.

So, good has come out of bad. Especially as Airedale Springs has ben able to develop is 21st century base in Haworth where the Parkinsons wanted to stay, not just to remain close to the firm’s roots, but also as many of their workers live in the locality.

Family values are important in this business, with many long-serving staff are related and where people often return if they do leave.

Tim Parkinson observed: “We are a close-knit firm operating in an industry sector which is also relatively intimate and where everyone knows one another. This was important to us after the fire when we were able to turn to competitors to help us out and enable us to get through such a difficult time.

“It’s gratifying that such a spirit still exists in today’s business world.”