ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING
Sponsored by Richardson Barberry Forrest Park
THE FINALISTS
Jon Robinson , from category sponsors Richardson Barberry and Forrest Park , presents the Engineering and Manufacturing award to Phil and Marcia Atkinson of BTS Facades and Fabrications .
COMPANY BOSSES SAY AWARD IS FOR THE ‘ BTS FAMILY ’
The husband-and-wife management team of award-winning BTS Facades and Fabrications say their whole company ‘ family ’ deserve the accolades as much as they do .
BTS won the Engineering and Manufacturing category at the 2022 Make Your Mark Awards .
The rainscreen manufacturing firm is run by Phil and Marcia Atkinson , supported by members of their family as well as a dedicated team .
BTS started its investment in automation five years ago after visiting Austria , Germany and Italy before purchasing a Trumpf Tru bend 7030 panel bender , one of the first of its kind to be used in the UK .
It represented a £ 600,000 investment for BTS , but the development enabled the firm to increase headcount from 40 to 55 within a year .
Since then , BTS has continued investment in automation , including the installation of a fully automated punching system , and the firm ’ s spending on automation currently totals £ 1.8m , with plans for further investment at its Aycliffe site to support future growth .
And Marcia says it ’ s the automation side of the business which sets them aside from their competitors , as well as helping to impress the Make Your Mark judges .
“ We want to always keep one step ahead of our competitors ,” she said .
“ When we make a profit , we always invest back into the company . We don ’ t take it out , it ’ s always ploughed back in and rewarding staff who work long hours and get us to where we are .
“ We ’ re one big team – it ’ s not just the Atkinson family , it ’ s the BTS family .”
And Phil added : “ Marcia summed it up – we ’ ve invested so much in automation . We do a lot of ‘ lights out activity ’ – we ’ re here now , but we ’ ve got machines working away at work . We ’ re innovators .
“ But we ’ re a family business – five close members of the family work for us , so it ’ s a big family feel .
“ We ’ re working towards manufacturing excellence . We ’ ve got Marcia ’ s brother in as operations director and his objective is ‘ lean , manufacturing excellence and it ’ s one team ’ – everyone works together and we ’ ve just started that journey .”
BTS pipped II-VI and Cobots Online to the Engineering and Manufacturing category , which was sponsored by Barberry Richardson Forrest Park .
Barberry development director and Forrest Park shareholder Jon Robinson presented the award to Phil and Marcia on the night .
“ We were proud to have supported the Make Your Mark Awards ,” said Jon .
“ The quality of all the entries far exceeded all expectations . It was great to see such quality and innovative businesses demonstrating engineering and manufacturing excellence in Aycliffe – creating investment , new jobs and economic growth in the North-East .
“ Congratulations to Phil and Marcia and the team at BTS Facades and Fabrications .”
II-VI II-VI is an innovative market leader in providing advanced semiconductor products to leading players in the defence , aerospace , automotive and consumer electronics industries .
It manufactures radio frequency ( RF ) electronics and optoelectronics for high-technology applications in the aerospace and defence industry .
Many will remember the site as the original Fujitsu building . The facility was acquired by II-VI in the summer of 2017 .
Within the last 12 months II-VI has announced a huge vote of confidence in the Aycliffe site by giving the go-ahead for major investment in its II-IV compound semiconductor technology platform in the UK , in order to sustain long-term growth and secure its global position as a market leader .
Cobots Online Cobots Online offers value-added benefits to the manufacturing sector and improvements to process , productivity and health and safety of workers .
Cobot-based automation provides a cost-effective , flexible and safe solution for a wide range of production tasks .
The firm is developing challenging new jobs for young minds and engaging with schools and colleges .
The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 29