Stiller fleet and facilities manager Herbie Blaser at the firm ’ s new vehicle maintenance facility .
BRAKE POINT
Stiller creates more new jobs after £ 500k investment in vehicle maintenance facility
BY MARTIN WALKER
Newton Aycliffe firm Stiller Warehousing and Distribution has created three new roles after investing £ 500,000 in a new maintenance facility for its fleet of heavy goods vehicles .
Stiller ’ s new vehicle maintenance workshop replaces an outdated unit on the firm ’ s 20-acre site on Aycliffe Business Park , doubling the size of the previous workshop by 2222 sq m .
It includes a significant investment in brake roller testing equipment , meaning Stiller can carry out that work on-site which will cut costs in time and emissions .
Work on the eight-month development started last October and is due to be completed in May .
Stiller ’ s managing director Matthew Stiller said : “ We ’ ve increased the size of our vehicle facilities and maintenance team by three people over recent months to accommodate the additional facilities and equipment . “ They include a new trailer fitter , a workshop administrator and a facilities maintenance operative .
“ We ’ ve also invested heavily in our own brake testing facility as part of this development . One of the advantages of this is cutting the number of road miles our trailers would have to do in going to third parties for testing .
“ The new workshop also includes a dedicated training room for the maintenance team and HGV driving staff .
“ This is a significant development for the company which further improves our main operating centre here in Newton Aycliffe .”
The new workshop project was overseen by main contractors McCarrick Construction , based in Chester-le-Street , with the architectural work carried out by Sunderlandbased Building Design Northern ( BDN ) and quantity surveying by DRC Consulting in Durham .
A full CCTV system was installed by Newton Aycliffe firm Cam-Tec , with a high specification electrical system installed by Bishop Auckland-based G Smith Electricals and washroom furniture by Atlas Washroom Systems in Bishop Auckland .
Matthew added : “ As with all our developments in recent years we ’ re delighted to have used local suppliers for the construction and fit-out of this project , supporting local jobs and the local economy .
“ They have all contributed to what is an important new development for us which will enable our team to maintain our fleet of vehicles in a more modern environment .”
Stiller ’ s fleet and facilities manager Herbie Blaser , who has been with the family-run firm for 50 years , added : “ A major advantage of the new workshop is that that it is now large enough to fully fit our longest trailers in it .
“ Previously we often had to work on them with workshop doors open , which isn ’ t much fun in the winter !
“ There ’ s also a purpose-built , adjoining office and training room along with canteen facilities for the staff .
“ So having a modern facility like this , along with the brake testing facility , will provide an improved working environment as well as saving the business valuable time .”
Stiller recruited 25 new jobs earlier this year to accommodate recent growth , with roles including HGV drivers , fork lift drivers , administrative roles in transport operations and customer service representatives .
The new positions , which boosted Stiller ’ s staff numbers , came after the firm ’ s sales grew to £ 16.1m last year , up from £ 15.2m in 2019 .
Stiller has also invested £ 550,000 in 14 new HGV trailers and three new trucks which will also increased the firm ’ s capacity .
It takes the company ’ s investment in property , facilities and people to more than £ 12m in the last six years .
Formed in 1954 , Stiller provides costeffective warehousing and distribution services to businesses in the North-East region as well as commercial property lettings and is also a member and major shareholder in Palletline , a national co-operative network of 70 companies specialising in overnight palletised freight distribution .
More about Stiller can be found at stiller . co . uk .
The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 23