Aycliffe ’ s Company of the Year lifts lid on what it actually does !
Aycliffe Business Make Your Mark Awards
COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Aycliffe Business Park Community
FINALISTS
Pamela Petty presented the Company of the Year trophy to Andy Reed from Sentronics .
Aycliffe ’ s Company of the Year lifts lid on what it actually does !
BTS FACADES & FABRICATIONS BTS Facades and Fabrications moved from its rented unit in Spennymoor to its stateof-the-art facility on Aycliffe Business Park in 2012 after the owners pooled their pensions to buy Unit 1 , Central Park .
Turnover has grown from £ 7.5m to £ 9.5m in the last two years , with its workforce increasing in size from 40 to 52 .
The firm has invested heavily in its Aycliffe site and staff during that time .
It may have been named Company of the Year at the Make Your Mark Awards , but there ’ s one question Senstronics MD Andy Reed always has to answer – what does your firm actually DO ?
Having picked up two awards – he picked up the Businessperson of the Year title too – an “ astonished ” Andy said he was thrilled that the firm ’ s contribution to the business park had been recognised .
And he was also happy enough to answer THAT question .
“ We make pressure sensors – daft little sensors in a clean room environment that go all over the world in every industry across the world ,” smiled Andy .
“ The world would pretty much stop – all cars would stop , for example – without them .
“ We ’ re just an unassuming little factory in the North-East of England in a corner of the business park .
“ Nobody knows what we do – we keep getting asked that question all the time – so one of the reasons we ’ re here tonight is to say ‘ we ’ re here , we ’ ve been here for a while , we want to be part of the community , and we want to help , support and make the place better ’.
“ And it ’ s not just about looking internally , it ’ s about looking externally at what we can help and support .”
Recalling when he arrived at Senstronics two years ago , Andy said : “ People weren ’ t always put first – it was all about profits to an extent .
“ Of course , you have to make profits , but it felt like making profits despite people , not with people . But if you invest in your people and your processes , you get that back tenfold .
“ I still love going to work every day . We ’ ve got a pretty big investment plan , £ 8m worth of capital investment , so we need to get four big machines in the next 12 months and a 30 per cent growth in the next three years , so that keeps us pretty busy .
“ My team are fantastic – everyone at Senstronics is fantastic . We want it to be a great place to work – it ’ s one of our values , that we make sure we drive through every decision we make . The business isn ’ t anything without people .”
PRIMEX PLASTICS Primex has grown rapidly and expanded its team in recent years . Dedicated to supporting its workforce , it has celebrated multiple long service awards .
Now in its 25th year of operating , Primex achieved its most profitable year on record , following on from the previous 12-month period , which had also been the most profitable .
HUSQVARNA Husqvarna ’ s Aycliffe site previously produced Flymo Hover mowers for the UK market , but recent years has seen the firm reinvented in terms of product , process and people development .
Husqvarna UK is now the main manufacturing facility for producing more complex robotic lawnmowers , along with associated batteries , spares and accessories , sold worldwide to residential and professional customers .
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