“ I ’ ve always believed in investing in machinery – reliable , accurate , state-of-the-art stuff that keeps us ahead of the game .”
Milestone - MD Mark Smith is proud to run Stockton Machine Company as it celebrates 50 years of operations .
which are CNC . But I ’ ve always believed in investing in machinery – reliable , accurate , state-of-the-art stuff that keeps us ahead of the game . I bought two new machines last year , for example , orthodox manual lathes that are already proving their worth .”
The Covid situation presented challenges , but Mark says SMC came through it well .
He said : “ I furloughed a handful of staff to start with , for social distancing reasons more than anything , but it was a mistake because I was struggling from a capacity point of view .
“ Business was good , to be fair . Even though there was a pandemic , we matched the previous year , which was a profitable one . And this year has been encouraging . We ’ ve just taken a big customer on , again one that ’ s into renewable energy .”
The oil and gas crash of 2008 was also challenging , Mark recalls . “ I ’ d just got a big customer in Aberdeen and thought , ‘ Yes , here we go ’ but then it all crashed . We got through it , though .”
Mark says his loyal , skilled workforce is key to SMC ’ s continuing success . But bearing in mind its slogan , “ Small enough to care , large enough to cope ”, does he want to keep growing ?
He said : “ I ’ ll probably carry on buying new machines because you can ’ t stand still in this business and I ’ d like to move into bigger premises . But machines can weigh 15 tons , so you need a big electricity supply cable . And they ’ re precision machines and have to be housed correctly , so it ’ s not that easy . I certainly haven ’ t ruled it out , though – I ’ d love the extra space .”
And he acknowledges that those early lessons learned from his dad continue to stand him in good stead . He said : “ We have a ‘ can-do ’ attitude – again , I suppose , going back to those early days working for my dad . We will take on work other firms won ’ t because we want to do everything possible to make our customers happy . So if that means working through the night , or travelling the country to get the equipment , that ’ s what we ’ ll do . “ I think dad ’ s proud we ’ re still around and doing so well after 50 years .
“ He laid the foundations and I owe my parents a lot , especially for the sacrifices they made .
“ I was grateful for the opportunity to do a management buyout – and it was always going to be that way , I didn ’ t want to be given it .
“ I got ‘ tough love ’ from my dad , learned a lot and stepped up to make the money to buy him out . And I ’ m proud of the way we ’ ve gone since then .”
The voice of business in the Tees region | 55