SUPER
PICTURES
BY GRAEME ROWATT
STOCKISTS
SBT , the area ’ s largest independent , authorised stockist and distributor of engineering solutions , is looking to increase its focus on Aycliffe Business Park . Peter Barron meets the man tasked with keeping local businesses moving …
As a lifelong football fan , James Faulks knows all too well that success depends on everyone playing their part – and the same applies to his approach to business .
The 27-year-old is the friendly , knowledgeable face of super-stockist SBT in its dealings with the Aycliffe business community . And his aim is to be part of the solution , making sure local companies get the support they need – when they want it .
Established in 1990 by proud Teessiders , Pat Hodgers and Martyn Semark , SBT was known as Stockton Bearings and Transmissions until it was rebranded 18 months ago .
Over more than three decades , the business has grown into the area ’ s largest independent authorised stockist and distributor of engineering , industrial and safety supplies .
The company is home to bearings , belts , chains , seals , PPE , plus all other power transmissions and general engineering products . You name it , it ’ s stocked by SBT , and there ’ s an expert team ready to deliver 24 hours a day , 365 days a year .
The firm supplied its first Aycliffe business back in 1996 when it started an enduring association with Schott Glass . Twenty-six years on , it now has solid partnerships with more than 20 Aycliffe-based companies , including Sabre Rail Services , PWS and Modern Precision
Engineering .
James ’ mission is to build on those existing Aycliffe relationships and help make SBT the go-to supplier in the area .
“ Aycliffe is such an exciting and expanding hub for great businesses and we fully intend to be part of that growth ,” he says .
“ We distribute products worldwide , and have regular customers from Blyth to Norwich in this country , but we see particularly strong potential for increasing our services at Aycliffe .”
Dan Thurlwell , who oversees the sales function at SBT , describes James as “ the perfect fit ” for the business , and the pair of them break into grins when they recall how football played a crucial part in his recruitment .
James was working for Peterlee-based AKS at the time , and while dealing with SBT one day , he spotted on an email footer that the company was a business partner of Middlesbrough Football Club .
Like Dan , James is a lifelong Boro fan , having first gone to The Riverside as a three-year-old with his dad Kevin – now mayor of Stockton – so he chanced his arm and asked if there were any spare tickets going .
The cheeky request led to him being a guest in hospitality at a match against Nottingham Forest in October 2018 . Although it didn ’ t go well – Boro lost 2-0 – his hosts saw that James had bags of potential .
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