EDITOR’S CHOICE
RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
AEMT
A visit to Houghton International reveals
people are the secrets to its success
Thomas Marks, Secretary of AEMT, visits
Houghton International in Newcastle-upon-
Tyne. He speaks with Michael Mitten, the
CEO, who is joined by Tiffany Scott, the
Marketing and Business Development
Director. They talk about the company’s
latest service offering, the vision for the
future and how it will be achieved.
Driven by the company’s core values,
Houghton International has been
expanding its business significantly over
the last 5 years. Values such as protect and
develop the workforce, deliver exceptional
customer service, honesty, integrity and
the use of innovation have proven to be
the recipe for their success. So essential
was it for the workforce to engage with the
values, Tiffany organised for large boards
emblazoned with the values to be erected
all over Houghton International’s sites –
you will even find them in the restrooms!
2020 VISION
Being a goal-orientated business,
encouraging staff to meet the next set
of targets was important. Back in the
summer of 2014, Michael introduced
an ambitious 5-year plan with an aim to
increase turnover to £20 million by 2020.
Such an increase in growth would require
considerable leadership and investment
in both people and premises. As the
business grew beyond the £5 million
mark, a diverse leadership team would be
required to manage the various facets of
the business.
Key to the vision’s success was the
workforce. Assembling all 65 employees
for a presentation, Michael kicked off the
project by explaining the company vision,
and a plan on how it would be achieved.
At its core were the staff and their belief
in the quality and expertise within the
Michael Mitten, CEO of Houghton International, with this year’s apprentice intakes.
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PECM Issue 43
business. The expansion plan would
require this talent to be developed as well
as bringing in new expertise.
Having recruited some key positions, the
management team was brought together
at a team building day to discuss vision
2020 and how to achieve it. By talking
about the objectives, they had been
tasked with, the team were able to set
milestones and make sure they had the
tools to deliver them.
Organic growth
The growth of the business has seen
the addition of new premises including
a large machine shop to handle electro-
mechanical repairs up to 30 MW. More
recently they’ve moved into vacant space
at Newcastle’s CAP Works to expand their
burgeoning pump business.