ENGINEERING
Success – INDUSTRO Group CEO John Betts
UNDER THE RADAR
The INDUSTRO Group has been quietly enjoying runaway success
WORDS : SARAH WALKER PICTURES : CHRIS BOOTH
Unless you ’ re working in the booming engineering sector on Teesside , the chances are you ’ ve never heard of INDUSTRO Engineering and the INDUSTRO group of companies .
That ’ s because the group ’ s CEO John Betts prefers to keep them under the radar and focus on positive relationships and high-quality work with a wide range of clients on exciting projects on HS2 , the Woodsmith polyhalite mine and Teesworks , to name just a few .
“ We don ’ t usually shout about our success and we are under the radar , which I prefer ,” says John .
“ In a climate where everyone ’ s clamouring for attention , we have just maintained our focus on keeping our heads down and being consistently good at what we do .
“ However , as we position ourselves to be a key , fundamental player in all the new developments that are happening here on Teesside – and we also continue to provide new employment opportunities , including for apprentices – we feel that now is the right time to shout about our success . Well , just a little !”
From small beginnings at a “ little office in Redcar ”, where John set up INDUSTRO after redundancy from a project manager position , the firm has grown from a single company – INDUSTRO Engineering – to become a £ 10m-turnover group of companies in eight years – INDUSTRO Engineering Group .
The group now includes INDUSTRO Design Engineering and INDUSTRO Engineering Solutions , as well as INTEK Electrical Engineering and VERTEX Construction & Civil Engineering .
Having all these key different business disciplines in-house enables the INDUSTRO Group to provide turnkey engineering solutions on major projects , from concept and design through to manufacture , installation , commissioning and handover .
This gives its customers across sectors including oil and gas , petrochemical , nuclear , renewable energy and rail , a single point of contact to deal with and one contract , while also ensuring the highest standards of workmanship that the INDUSTRO Group is known for across all disciplines .
Speaking of how far the business has come , John said : “ We started off with very small jobs – £ 2,000 to £ 10,000 here and there – and after two years , we moved to a fabrication facility at Owens Road , in Middlesbrough , as larger projects and clients developed .
“ We have gradually built up to achieving our first of five seven-figure contracts in 2022 and along the way we ’ ve created INTEK Electrical Engineering and VERTEX Construction & Civil Engineering .
“ This has entered us into other exciting key sectors , which in turn feeds into all the group ’ s businesses and has enabled us to go from a from a standing start to a £ 10m turnover in a little under eight years .” John has now officially opened INDUSTRO ’ s sprawling new workshop .
“ We ’ ll now be working at Riverside Park in our new fabrication facility with over 12,500-sq ft capacity and large overhead crane capacity for all our fabrication requirements ,” John says . “ It ’ s a very exciting time for us .”
The fact that John always uses the words “ we ” and “ us ” represents the high value he places on everyone who works with him in the businesses , from apprentices to directors .
Creating the right culture and working
62 | Tees Business