Serving the Teesside Business Community | 43
Colin Simpson – business development director
dedicated to showing just what our region
has to offer.
“I sometimes scratch my head when I
go to a site locally and pumps are coming
in from other areas of the UK - we are right
around the corner and have the expertise
right here,” says Colin.
He counts the firm’s staff as its greatest
asset because the team, he says, are all
committed to the company. Many of them
have decades of service to Tomlinson Hall
and are fully invested in a quality operation
Teessiders often refer to the company
as “Tommy Hall”. It started out in 1919,
founded by Alfred Hall and Frank Tomlinson
in Stockton, specialising in pumps, power
transmission equipment and engineering
supplies. Colin describes it as “a bit like
Arkwright’s shop - if you wanted any bits for
any job, you went to Tommy Hall.”
1997 marked a new chapter when Tony
took the helm as MD. The company moved
premises to its current site in 2006 and
became the sole distributor for Crane
ChemPharma Solutions - a relationship
which still exists today.
It has developed and evolved with hard
work and a great team ethic as well as
more than a nod to its Teesside roots.
The company has worked closely
with Teesside University’s engineering
department and plans are afoot to take on
a PhD student from the uni. They have also
developed a base in the south “to drive
business south to north,” says Colin.
The next 10 or 20 years will see
Tomlinson Hall continue to focus on
Josh Chambers – pump engineer
developing its business both regionally
and nationally as well as serving its global
clients.
To mark 100 years of business, that
important local focus has driven a very
special programme of events. The firm
wanted to be able to support charities,
events and organisations right here on
Teesside and in the North East, and each
month in their centenary year will be doing
something to cement that.
Tomlinson Hall staff have already donated
100 babygrows to the special care baby unit
at a Teesside hospital, 100 sleeping bags
to a homeless charity, 100 food parcels to
a local food bank and 100 Easter eggs to
children at a Billingham primary school, as
well as undertaking a sponsored walk for
the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Children from Billingham South
Community Primary drew the pictures for
a centenary year calendar which is proudly
displayed in their HQ alongside their
numerous industry awards.
“It’s all about community,” says Colin,
summing up the ethos of the business.
“It is great for us to be reaching out all
over the world, but sometimes people
don’t realise what they’ve got on their back
doorstep.”