28/05/2026
As Hansford Sensors celebrates 20 years in 2026, weโve been reflecting on the journey, the milestones and the people who have helped shape the business along the way.
To mark the occasion, we sat down with our Founder and Managing Director, Chris Hansford, to talk about where his passion for engineering began, the proudest moments from the last two decades, and his thoughts on the future of vibration monitoring and international business growth.
From building go-karts as a child to leading an internationally recognised engineering company and receiving The Kingโs Award for Enterprise, Chris shares the experiences, advice and values that have guided the Hansford Sensors journey.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ?
Probably goes back to my father who was an engineer, I can remember as a kid he would always encourage me with anything mechanical. I remember having a little go cart with a pull string and I would go around and try and find a pram wheel to be able to put on it, and wanting to put an engine on the go-kart. We went to a jumble sale and bought a lawn mower engine for ยฃ3 ! I went on to do engineering at school and then at college.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ฏ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ซ๐?
What a difficult question to pick one proud moment in the 20 years since starting Hansford Sensors. It has to be developing a team that's enabled us to achieve what we have so far and to win The Kingโs Award for Enterprise for International Trade and visiting Windsor Castle to receive the award.
๐๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ฒ?
The HS-420 4-20mA velocity output accelerometer โ itโs bullet proof! It's a cost-effective solution, is an incredibly reliable product to make and we sell over 50,000 every year.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ?
Itโs still a bit of a black art โ itโs not like monitoring temperature where itโs black or whiteโฆ if it says its 50 degrees, itโs 50 degrees. Vibration monitoring needs a lot of analysis of the output involved to understand what the solution could be.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐๐ฅ๐?
Be prepared that if you want to be successful, you have to be international. The UK has changed over the years and is not the strong industrial nation it was 30 plus years ago. You have to be prepared to invest in the world because success wonโt come just from the being in the UK.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ'๐ฏ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฏ๐๐?
To focus on one subject and one subject alone so that you become an expert and donโt get distracted by all things new and shiny.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ก๐จ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐?
Boating because itโs so relaxing and very therapeutic and so far removed from my day-to-day. I like to talk to people and help people, so sometimes if you get someone that's in another boat that doesn't really know what to do, I'll be the first to get on board and help them!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ?
Positive, trustworthy and honourable.
