Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 9
(left to right): Oberlin Filter
project manager Mark Blewitt,
managing director Alistair
Jameson and sales engineer
Mike Johnson next to the firm’s
100th filtration system, inside
new 11,000 sq ft premises on
Aycliffe Business Park.
UK arm of US filtration firm
moves to larger premises in
£350k expansion
By Martin Walker
The UK arm of a US-owned global filtration manufacturer has moved to larger premises
in a £350,000 expansion after doubling turnover in recent years.
Oberlin Filter produce state-of-the-art
automatic pressure filtration units for a
number of companies in heavy engineering,
medical, aerospace, surface treatment and
automotive sectors, among others.
Its filtration machines assist in the
production of industrial gas turbine blades,
vanes and segments within aerospace,
gears, valves, valve seats and crankshafts
within automotive sectors as well as joint
replacement devices such as knee and hips
in the medical industry.
Oberlin Filter is owned by a private, familyrun business, based in Wisconsin, USA,
while there is also a production facility in
Eschweiler, Germany.
Its UK operation was established in 1998
to further develop its market in the UK,
Ireland and throughout Europe particularly
the Netherlands, Belgium and France.
Oberlin began production in Newton
Aycliffe in 2002, originally in one small unit on
Gurney Way, Aycliffe Business Park, as the
business gradually expanded over the early
years it amalgamated three neighbouring
units.
But after outgrowing them, the company
has now moved to new 11,000 sq ft
premises on Hurworth Road in a relocation
costing £350,000, which has included the
£40,000 purchase of a 10-tonne moving
crane from nearby firm Durham Lifting.
The new facility will enable Oberlin Filter
and its Aycliffe team of seven to maintain
recent growth after doubling turnover to
£1.8m in the last few years and explore new
markets.
The firm’s sales engineer Mike Johnson
said: “Essentially we design and manufacture
automatic pressure filtration units for any
kind of liquids that need solids removing.
“We work with companies in chemical
processing, sulphur recovery, edible oil,
pharmaceutical and water treatment or
sludge dewatering - basically any liquid/solid
separation, particularly when either has a reusable or re-saleable value.
“Our systems clean the liquid while the
solids are discharged and dried automatically
- and we bring every par و \