Aycliffe Today Business Aycliffe Today Business Issue 31 | Page 7

The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 7
/NEWS
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Fleet Recruitment managing director Neil
O’Connor (right) welcomes the firm’s latest
recruit Scott Martin.
DPE SALES TO TOP £3M
Experienced recruiter joins
ambitious Aycliffe agency
An experienced recruitment specialist has
joined an ambitious Newton Aycliffe agency
which is now expanding its services.
Former motor trade apprentice Scott
Martin has joined Aycliffe-based Fleet
Recruitment, which provides recruitment
and training services spanning a wide range
of sectors including sales and marketing,
commercial and automotive.
The 44-year-old, from Darlington, has
several years’ experience in high-level
recruitment. After specialising in the
engineering and manufacturing sectors, as
well as helping large firms to recruit senior
finance roles, Scott now aims to help Fleet
expand into those areas.
The firm’s managing director, Neil
O’Connor, said: “I wanted to expand the
portfolio of services we offer in recruitment
into different markets, and Scott has been on
our radar for a long time.
“Trying to recruit good recruiters these
days is actually really tough. But what we
liked about Scott is that he mirrors our
values. He’s very straight-forward and easy
to do business with.
“He’s a really experienced consultant who
has excellent competence in engineering,
manufacturing and more recently four or five
years senior finance positions.”
Neil adds: “We pride ourselves on being
very straight-forward, honest, transparent
and thorough. It’s not always easy to find in
recruitment.
“We’re about quality over quantity. We
control our volumes carefully so that we are
able to cuddle customers in a way the high
street agencies can’t. It also means you’re
remembered fondly by your clients for all
the right reasons and I’m really proud of our
client retention.”
Fleet Recruitment, launched in December
2014, is located at St Cuthbert’s House on
Aycliffe Business Park and is already working
with a number of well-known national brands
from global manufacturing firms to world-
renowned luxury car dealerships.
If you would like more information about
Fleet Recruitment, call the team on 01325
313184 or visit www.fleetrecruitment.co.uk
Roman invests £400k in new
packaging machines
Newton Aycliffe-based shower
manufacturer Roman has invested £400,000
in two new packaging machines to help
improve efficiency.
Due to a continuing high growth rate
and the necessity for ‘on demand’ product
packaging, Roman has invested in a second
high-speed machine after installing its first
eight years ago.
The investment in both fan fold machines,
totalling £400,000, has given Roman a much-
improved operational flexibility allowing ‘just
in time’ packaging and the ability to custom
design boxes.
Roman, which is headed by managing
director David Osborne, currently uses 1.2
million square metres of cardboard every
year.
And the capability of the packaging
machines, which allow Roman to create a
box to perfectly fit with any of their products,
Newton Aycliffe-based business Durham
Precision Engineering (DPE) expects
turnover this year to top £3m after
investing in new machinery.
DPE, established in 1984, designs and
manufactures precision engineered
products for the oil and gas,
pharmaceutical, nuclear, aerospace
and other industries requiring bespoke
and low volume precision engineered
products.
The firm, which employs 38 people, has
secured further financial backing from
Barclays to invest in a new lathe.
GROUP MARKS 2ND BIRTHDAY
A popular networking event which has
connected hundreds of businesses in
County Durham has celebrated its second
birthday.
Durham 2sday was created by Business
Durham, the economic development
organisation for County Durham, and has
attracted more than 1,000 businesses to
Esquire’s Coffee Shop in Durham City on
the second Tuesday of every month since
it was set up two years ago.
COUNTY IS ‘THRIVING’ – CDEMN
Engineering and manufacturing
companies across County Durham are
expanding and planning for long-term
investment and job creation, according to
leading business network for the area.
The sectors, which employ thousands of
people and contribute millions of pounds
to the area’s economy, have undergone
major growth in the last few years.
Employers of all sizes, who manufacture
products for global industries including
automotive, oil and gas, aerospace, digital
and pharmaceuticals, are investing and
recruiting which means the engineering
and manufacturing sectors are more
buoyant now than ever before, according
to County Durham Engineering and
Manufacturing Network (CDEMN).
NEW FOOD HUB FOR PRODUCERS
means the Aycliffe Business Park-based
firm now has the potential to produce 1,500
boxes per day for its products.
The card used can be selected from six
varieties so that the durability and protection
of the product is just right to ensure
protection during the delivery process.
The packaging machines can also create
infills for the boxes to ensure further
protection and minimise the movement of
the product when handled.
Food producers from across County
Durham are being given a direct route to
take their products to market.
Durham Food Hub, which is operating
under the Food Durham Trading Limited
(FDTL) company name, has been created
as part of plans to champion small,
independent retailers in County Durham.
The aim is to support as many local small
regional producers as possible but to
help build up systems and processes
eight selected food producers who are
already making sought after goods but
have struggled to get their products onto
broader distribution are being supported.