FEATURE
Assembly – Gary Gardner at work in the Titan factory .
Painting – Mick Gratton in the paint shop .
He said : “ Some people might look at the cost and initially think ‘ too expensive ’ but we ’ re a long-term trailer .
“ There are trailers on the market that are £ 20,000 or £ 30,000 cheaper , but they might only last three years – ours are 10-year .
“ And now we ’ ve taken the sales in-house rather than use a dealer , we ’ re the masters of our own destiny .”
Titan ’ s UK trailer range comprises heavyduty extreme , recycler and tipper models . Last year they introduced a tipping trailer and a recycler , and have just relaunched an aggregate trailer .
And even though Titan ’ s Canadian base in Delhi , Ontario , two hours south-west of Toronto , is more than 5,600km from Middlesbrough , the connections between the two sites are strong .
The Canadian firm was founded in the 1970s by Mike Kloepfer , who still runs the business and , says Alex , is proud of what ’ s happening on Teesside .
“ He ’ s invested an awful lot of money , including several million pounds building this new facility , and he loves the UK .
“ His idol is Winston Churchill so we always visit Churchill ’ s home , Chartwell , when he comes over !”
A walk through the Middlesbrough factory shows precision welding and assembly taking place in a modern , purpose-built unit .
Alex said : “ The materials arrive from Canada each month and from that , we ’ ll build six trailers . We get that big box of bits , they ’ re distributed to each department and the first trailer will be ready within three weeks .
“ The USP for a Titan has always been ‘ the best of the best ’ – they ’ re indestructible .
“ They ’ re built to a landfill specification , so they ’ re strong enough to be driven onto a landfill site fully laden and for them not to twist or buckle . They ’ ve been called the king of the landfill .”
Alex admits that Titan is something of a hidden gem , even on Teesside , but he wants that to change , especially with Teesworks and a heavier emphasis on recycling potentially creating more business opportunities .
He said : “ We ’ re the largest company on Teesside that purely deals with aluminium welding , yet not even The Welding Institute , which is only three miles away , knew we existed .
“ So , as well as promoting our new products , we need to get the message out about who Titan Trailers are .
“ Not everyone on Teesside will want to buy a waste trailer but we do a very good job here , we make an excellent product and the guys are very proud of what they do , so it ’ s good to get more local – and national - recognition .”
Many of Titan ’ s UK customers lie south of Birmingham , including the M25 corridor , and north of Edinburgh – but hopes are high of more business nationwide , with the factory able to turn out three or even four trailers a week .
And to help fill a local skills gap , three of the 29-strong workforce are apprentices , ensuring continuity in this impressive Anglo- Canadian venture that shows no signs of stalling .
Modern – Titan Trailers ’ modern factory produces two trailers a week .
Visit titantrailers . co . uk
The voice of business in the Tees region | 119