Aycliffe Today Business Aycliffe Today Business Issue 38 | Page 9

The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 9 /NEWS BUSINESS BRIEFS FIRM MAKES ADVANCES Aycliffe-based conveyor manufacturer Advance Automated Systems has recently increased its engineer headcount at its manufacturing facility on the town’s business park. The firm says the move comes due to an increase in sales and a greater level of bespoke, turnkey projects. Advance Automated Systems, which celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2018, added four new starters to its line-up after a positive 12 months. Crafter’s Companion founder Sara Davies is excited about the firm’s latest US expansion. Crafter’s to expand US presence N ewton Aycliffe-based global craft retailer Crafter’s Companion has announced plans to move its US headquarters to a larger space in Corona, California, following a huge growth in sales from $12m to an estimated $22m over the past two years. The new office and warehouse, which will be 31,000 sq ft, has been primarily driven by increased demand from key accounts including the Home Shopping Network (HSN), Notions Marketing, Amazon.com and fellow retailers such as Tuesday Morning and Hobby Lobby. Founder Sara Davies MBE said: “It’s fantastic to see such an increase in demand for our products in the US market. “When we opened our office in Santa Ana, California, in 2016, I could not have envisioned this level of growth, although I always knew our products would be well received by customers in North America. “A big part of our success in this market has been down to a great partnership with HSN. Its team has supported our brand for many years and enabled us to bring our innovations to their well-established and loyal customer base.” The company is currently recruiting for several new positions across customer service, compliance and design to join the existing team of 30. Among Crafter’s Companion’s new appointments are two senior recruits who will both be based in the company’s new US headquarters. Crafter’s Companion is a market-leading craft retailer, headquartered on Aycliffe Business Park. Founded in 2005, the company now employs over 150 staff and exports products to Europe, Asia, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and North and South America. Having traditionally sold its products online, through independent retailers and on TV shopping channels across the world, Crafter’s Companion opened its first three UK stores between 2016 and 2017. For more information visit www.crafterscompanion.co.uk or www.crafterscompanion.com. Senior manager retires from Aycliffe firm Roman N ewton Aycliffe-based international shower designer and manufacturer Roman has wished a long-term employee a happy retirement. Geoff Ingram, Roman’s Northern contract manager, has retired after 50 years in the industry. Geoff started work as an apprentice heating engineer at the age of 16 and has worked his way up since, spending his entire career in the bathroom industry. After his apprenticeship as a heating engineer he went to work at Baxi Boilers and then to Myson as a sales representative. He then spent 21 years working for Aqualisa, first as a sales representative, then to Northern regional contract manager and later as national contract manager. Roman’s Northern contract manager Andy McLeod with managing director David Osborne, Geoff Ingram and sales director Marc Teasdale. Gabriele Akstinaite joined as a project design engineer following a project manager role and graduation from Northumbria University, Craig Leadbitter joined as a design engineer following a similar position at Roman Showers, Emma O’Leary joined as project engineer having gained industry experience at Hitachi Rail and Jaan Anwar started as a design engineer following a previous role as an industrial engineer. HITACHI’S PARTNER BID Two northern engineering powerhouses have formed a partnership to bid for a £500m contract to build new trains and a depot for the Tyne and Wear Metro. From 2022, the existing metro fleet will be replaced with brand new high technology trains and maintained at a newly-constructed site at Gosforth, Newcastle. Hitachi and Spencer Group will harness their footprint in the North for the bid. Hitachi has invested over £100m in its train factory in Newton Aycliffe, supporting thousands of jobs in the North East. DUTCH DEAL FOR TEKMAR Tekmar Energy has been awarded a contract to supply its cable protection technology to a Dutch offshore wind farm. Dutch maritime contracting firm Van Oord has selected the patented Tekmar Cable Protection System (CPS) TekLink for the Borssele 2 (site III and IV) offshore wind farm. Borssele 2, consisting of 77 turbines and a total of 731.5 MW, will go into construction off the coast of Zeeland, the Netherlands, in 2020. AYCLIFFE TODAY BUSINESS During his career, Geoff has forged very strong relationships with the main plumbing contractors in the North of England and is very well known across the housebuilder sector and with the major merchants. For the last three years Andy McLeod has been working alongside Geoff and he is now taking over his role. The business magazine for Aycliffe Business Park We’re already working on our next issue, due out in March, with our booking deadline on Friday February 22. Email [email protected] to get involved.