Teescraft Engineering has been a major employer in County Durham for a number of years and I’m delighted that, with grant support through the County Durham Growth Fund, the company is embarking on ambitious plans to significantly expand.
Hazel Sykes
Business Durham
A fast-growing engineering company which was founded nearly 40 years ago is targeting significant growth including doubling the space it occupies.
Teescraft Engineering, which was founded in 1984 by Ted Page and is based at South Church Enterprise Park in Bishop Auckland, started out as a traditional business offering small scale engineering services to businesses in the automotive sector.
However, when former Teescraft apprentice and now MD Robert Yorke and fellow Director Cliff Laverick carried out a Management Buyout in 2003, they saw the potential to expand and break into new markets, so they purchased several CNC machines and implemented a quality assurance system which would take the business into profitability.
Today, thanks to their ambition, the business is targeting a turnover upwards of £25m, has recorded profits every year, and has a portfolio of companies which it has acquired, including Westlands Castings in the Midlands, Stockton Castings Company on Teesside, and LH (Quarry Plant) at Thornaby.
The next step in Teescraft Engineering’s journey has been supported by the County Durham Growth Fund, which has awarded the company a £90,000 grant to support capital investment of £500,000 in new CNC machines and a new power supply, which is quadrupling their energy capacity to enable the additional machines to be operated.
Cliff Laverick said: “Our growth has been organic, supported by strategic acquisitions we’ve completed over the years, and we really have turned the business around, from the very early days when it used only traditional machines with no real ambition to grow, to how things are today.
“Across our group we employ over 200 people including several apprentices and are now implementing the next stage of our growth plans, which will see significant investment committed to our sites in Bishop Auckland including developing a piece of land that we own adjacent to our existing premises, which will double our footprint.
“It’s an ambitious project and there’s no doubt the support of the County Durham Growth Fund has been pivotal in us committing to it.”
The growth of Teescraft Engineering, which makes cast iron and aluminium parts for the automotive other industries, has been driven in large part to the growth of its major client, Cummins, which just recently confirmed it was investing a further £14m to support the expansion of its Darlington plant.
The County Durham Growth Fund is managed by Business Durham in partnership with UMi and is supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). All successful grant applications are appraised by UNW LLP, an independent firm of chartered accountants and business advisers.
Hazel Sykes from Business Durham said: “Teescraft Engineering has been a major employer in County Durham for a number of years and I’m delighted that, with grant support through the County Durham Growth Fund, the company is embarking on ambitious plans to significantly expand.”
Simon Allen, investment centre director at UMI, said: “Since opening in 1984, Teescraft Engineering has gone from strength to strength and in its next phase of growth the company will eventually double in size, cementing its future in County Durham, bringing jobs and investment with it.”
John Healey, Corporate Finance Partner at UNW LLP, said: “The County Durham Growth Fund is here to support our area’s flagship employers who have ambitious plans to grow, which is certainly the case with Teescraft Engineering. It’s a fantastic boost for our area.”
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