The voice of business in the Tees region | 83
Father to son
- Paul Griffiths
is passing on
the running of
IMH to his son,
James.
MOVING FORWARD
Teesside-based hydraulics business
goes from strength to strength
More in the pipeline - members of the IMH
team working on pipework for a major project.
M
iddlesbrough-based hydraulics firm
Industrial and Marine Hydraulics
(IMH) is celebrating a record
year for turnover following a period of
investment and ambitious growth - and the
journey is only just gathering pace.
When Paul Griffiths set up the specialist
service engineering business back in the
1980s, his original focus was to provide
local firms on Teesside with maintenance
and repair advice. Today, some 36 years
later, IMH employs more than 30 people
and provides support to companies all over
the world.
Earlier this year, Paul was awarded an
MBE for services to engineering skills
and apprenticeships in Teesside and, after
almost four decades at the helm, he is now
formally handing the business over to his
son, James.
“My passion for engineering and training
is in my blood. I love passing on my
experience and will continue to do so,” says
Paul.
Though he is stepping down as business
leader, Paul will continue to carry out
training and remain on the board as a non-
executive director.
For son James, there are exciting times
ahead. The business has just achieved
a record turnover mark and the plans for
further growth are already taking shape. He
puts the success of the business down to
several factors:
• Not compromising on safety
• Honest and open relationships with
its customers and staff
• Stretching for and successfully
securing larger projects
• Employing an experienced and highly
skilled workforce
• Striving for excellence and looking
for opportunities to implement
improvements
• Investing now for long term benefits.
James says: “When the senior team set
out its growth strategy for the next five
years, we realised that this would mean
dealing with several challenges within
the organisation, if we were going to be
successful.
“My dad has built a truly wonderful
business and we have an unbelievable
foundation to build from. However, we
recognised that to achieve the growth we
are so passionate about, there would need
to be some significant changes.”
For the senior team, that meant a change
in the size of jobs being bid for and, in 2018,
IMH was awarded its single largest project
to provide engineering design, manufacture
and installation of the complete hydraulic
system, including several hydraulic power
units, for the Boston Flood Defence Barrier
in Lincolnshire.
For commercial director Ian Duffew
this was a significant achievement for the
business.
He explains: “Our sales and engineering
team spent months working with the client
to understand and then develop a technical
solution that would work.
“That hard work paid off with the biggest
single contract award in our history and
the experience we are gaining at this level
is helping us compete for similar projects
around the UK.”
But there are several other key changes
on the horizon. As a result of recent growth
– and to support further expansion of its
specialist services – IMH is planning to
move to larger premises
“We are committed to staying on
Teesside and setting up a new facility that
will be our headquarters for engineering,
quality, training and all of our other central
functions,” stated James.
In addition to its Teesside plans, IMH
opened up a facility on the Port of Blyth
earlier this year and is successfully picking
up work with local clients in that region.
And the good news keeps coming. In
the last 12 months, IMH has successfully
recruited an additional 11 employees
(including two new apprentices), taking
headcount to over 30 full-time staff. And
according to Ian and James, the recruitment
programme is set to continue in line with
revenue growth.
For more information on IMH, visit
imh-uk.com or tel. 01642 802700.