Washington news
The Eagle has landed!
CHERRYPICKING SNORKEL’S
SUCCESS IN WASHINGTON
W
ashington-based Snorkel Europe has
almost doubled employee numbers in
the last two years and increased sales by 79
per cent since 2015.
The exceptional growth owes much to
thriving global exports.
The Wearside plant of the worldwide
Snorkel business produces the largest
proportion of Snorkel aerial work platforms
for markets outside of North America.
Snorkel is a leading global manufacturer
of aerial work platforms, more commonly
known as ‘cherrypickers’ and is introducing
new models to add to the existing 28 types of
lifts it produces at Birtley Road, Washington.
Sunderland City Council has been
advising and supporting Snorkel for many
years, as it has grown to the point where it
now has almost 250 employees.
John Gill, Snorkel’s chief manufacturing
officer, said: “Snorkel’s strong performance
at the Washington plant reflects our drive to
grow, and the excellence of our workforce.
“We are proud that the majority of
our employees are local people, and our
commitment to training and upskilling of
all our workforce and our apprenticeships
programme means that our growth is
positive news for the region as well as for
Snorkel.”
Snorkel has boosted its capital expenditure
to more than £650,000 in the past two years,
improving the plant to benefit employees
and to boost lean manufacturing processes.
The company has recently invested in a
new, more efficient blast room facility for
preparing steel fabrications for powder coat
paint, a new compressor, and energy-saving
moves including new LED ceiling lights to
improve Lux levels and reduce energy usage
and cost.
In the past three years, Snorkel has also
invested heavily in employee development,
including its apprenticeship scheme.
Founded in the USA in 1959, Snorkel is
celebrating 60 years of innovation.
Morson projects moves to
Washington Business Centre BATTERY MANUFACTURERS
ON THE CHARGE
After 10 years
of steady
success,
Morson
Projects has
moved to Washington Business Centre from
Jarrow because it had outgrown its former
base.
The company operates UK-wide,
providing multi-disciplined engineering,
project management and design services to
clients in the power, process, nuclear, general
engineering, and aerospace industries - its
services ranging from design through to
complete ‘turn-key’ project management
services.
The company counts among its clients
National Grid, Scottish Power, Northern
Power Grid, Siemens and General Electric. Hyve, the
UK’s largest
independent
battery
manufacturing
facility outside
Original Equipment Manufacturers
(OEMs) in the UK has successfully opened
on the outskirts of Washington.
The Barmston Court site is home to
Hyperdrive Innovation, the country’s
foremost designer and manufacturer of
lithium-ion battery technology.
Hyperdrive, which makes battery
packs for electric vehicles and energy
storage systems, has invested £7m into its
manufacturing capabilities since moving to
the site in 2014.
An innovative networking group that
connects businesses with each other
while they’re out on the golf course has
arrived on Wearside.
FORE Business – the world’s largest
golf-networking organisation, with more
than 100 groups around the UK, as well
as in America, Spain and Ireland – has
launched at the George Washington
Hotel and Golf Club.
And having successfully teed off,
the group will meet monthly to bring
businesses together and owners who have
a shared love of the global game.
J&B RECYCLING
EXPANDS
An independent recycling firm has
expanded after opening its fourth
site in the region at Washington.
Bosses at J&B Recycling say
their new say the plant, based at
Monument Park, on Pattinson
Industrial Estate, has created two
new jobs, with its services including
support for Sunderland City
Council’s kerbside recycling.
The company, headquartered in
Hartlepool, is known for processing
commingled recyclables that create
commodities for reprocessing and
recycling into new products, and
commercial manager Mark Penny
(pictured) said the Wearside base
will only strengthen its output.
wear.business – the voice of business for the Wear region
| 39