Houghton International Creates 40 Jobs on 25th Anniversary

North East based electrical engineers Houghton International has celebrated its 25th year in business by announcing that they will create 40 jobs over the next three years.

Based on Walker Riverside in Newcastle, Houghton International is currently in the process of expanding and has received a £200,000 Job Creation grant from One North East. 

It has recently acquired a second 10,000sq ft storage and production unit near its Walker base which will support doubling production for its rail traction motor repairs business and also enable the company to offer a unique proposition into Tyneside's emerging renewable energy market.

Michael Mitten, Managing Director, said: "We've had two record years of sales growth and our turnover is set to break the £3million mark this year, with aspirations to grow to £5million in the next two years."

"While we're realistic about the current economy, we're optimistic about our future as our board set a clear strategy some years ago to reduce our risk exposure to economic cycles. We've continued to grow steadily and our core strategy has seen us outperform other companies in our sector."

Much of Houghton International's recent growth has been a result of it taking a ten per cent market share in the UK's rail traction motor industry, including winning contracts with Tyne and Wear Metro, Unipart Rail and MerseyRail.

Michael Mitten continued: "We are seeing an opportunity to take business to a whole new level. Our success to date has been down to developing a cracking team of dedicated people who have focused on our customers' needs, and delivered what they wanted. "

"Our strategy has been based around forming partnerships with our customers that promote mutual benefit. To this end, we've been able to quantify the value we add meaning lots of our customers have asked us to take on more and we've made the business scalable by controlling processes and educating our people. We've also established new sales channels in North America and the Middle East and are in advanced discussions in India and South East Asia, which gives us a foot in the door to some interesting markets."

"Houghton International is delighted to be celebrating its 25 year Silver Anniversary this year and to be creating new jobs for the region. The next year is going to be a very exciting one for us and we look forward to our expansion and turnover increasing further."

Houghton International was originally founded in 1984 in Houghton-le-Spring, moving to larger premises in South Shields in 1990 to accommodate for an increase in both employees and orders, and moving to Walker Riverside in 1998. Over the years, the company has gained over 400 customers and exports to over 20 countries worldwide including Greece, Canada, the Middle East, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Norway and the USA. It is the UK's fastest growing, most customer focused electric motor and alternator repair company, servicing the rail, wind power, oil and gas (offshore), industrial, water, power generation, marine, mining and High Voltage coil manufacturing sectors.

For more information, please contact:

Michael Mitten, Managing Director, Houghton International. Tel: 0191 234 3000. Email: michael.mitten@houghton-international.com

or

Kate Galloway, Senior PR Account Manager, Gardiner Richardson. Tel: 0191 261 4250. Mobile: 07872 128137.  Email: kateg@gardiner-richardson.com.

Middle East Agent - Details of next trip around the Middle East

Earlier this year, Houghton International recently appointed Greg Kemp from 3GK Ltd as our Agent in the Middle East.

Greg is now based full-time in Dubai and is available to assist any company based in the Middle East. 

Greg will be visiting Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar from 14th November 2009 onwards.

If you would like to arrange an appointment with him  to discuss how 3GK Ltd and Houghton International can help you, please contact Greg Kemp on: +971(0)50488557 or email: greg@aev.co.uk.

Case Study: First Capital Connect G310 Winter Failures

The First Capital Connect G310 Problem

First Capital Connect encountered a sudden and severe problem with extreme consequences.

Over 40 of their G310 traction motors had suffered an in-service failure following the heaviest snowfall that Central London had seen in nearly 20 years.  In short, their G310 traction motors could not cope with working in such severe weather.

First Capital Connect had not experienced anything like this before.

With the sudden loss of over 40 of their G310 traction motors, they did not have enough traction motors to supply their trains. Their contingency plan wasn't geared towards such an extreme loss of traction motors.  Without a full set of trains, they were unable to run a full on-time train service as advertised. Without their full advertised train service running on-time, they were a major contributor to Central London slowly grinding to a halt from the effects of snow.

Consequently, this led to extremely unhappy passengers.

 Ian Duncan, Head of Fleet GN, First Capital Connect stated:  

"This was a great example of FCC, Unipart Rail and Houghton staff working together to understand the potential effect on our customers and putting together unique robust solutions that averted loss of availability and potential severe disruption to our customers".

  
To find out how we solved this problem and received the feedback below, read our Case Study

Supporting Paws for a Cause & St Cuthbert’s Hospice

Emma Pattison, Marketing Executive kindly volunteered at Paws for a Cause, a fundraising event for St Cuthbert's Hospice on Sunday 11th October 2009. 

Information about the event is below.

101 Dalmations… (and Labradors, Poodles, Terriers and more!)

Over a hundred dogs gathered in Chester-le-Street on Sunday to lend a paw to St Cuthbert's Hospice, Paws for a Cause.  The Hospice's first sponsored dog walk, saw an army of dogs and families taking a Sunday morning stroll around the riverside in Chester-le-Street to raise vital funds for the Durham-based charity.

Dog walkers enjoyed a perfect Autumn day… as they completed the picturesque three mile route.  The walk was launched at 10.30am by TV presenter Pip Tomson, who also took part with her Tibetan Terrier.

St Cuthbert's Hospice provides care and support free of charge to people with life threatening conditions in Durham, Chester le Street and Derwentside. The Hospice must raise £1 million each year through voluntary donations and fundraising events, in order to continue providing these services to the local community.

It is hoped that Paws for a Cause has raised around £9,000, which could potentially pay for 25 people to have an overnight stay at St Cuthbert's Hospice.

"We're thrilled that so many people have got behind Paws for a Cause in its first ever year," said Rachel Jobson, a fundraiser at St Cuthbert's Hospice.

"There's been a great atmosphere today and people have raised a fantastic amount of funds for the Hospice, which will make a real difference to local families. Thank you to our sponsors Abbey Vets Centres, as well as everyone who registered or sponsored a dog. And of course, I would also like to say a special thank you to all the dogs!"

We Are Supporting Wear It Pink for Breast Cancer Care

Houghton International are delighted to be participating in the Wear It Pink day for Breast Cancer Care on Friday 30th October 2009.

We are encouraging all our staff to wear a pink item of clothing or accessory and donate £2.00 each to help beat breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Campaign uses all wear it pink donations to fund innovative, world-class research throughout the UK and Ireland to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure. The charity currently supports around 130 projects worth £15million in 43 centres across the UK and Ireland.

For more information, visit: www.wearitpink.co.uk

Annual Staff Performance Awards – Prize Winners

At our 25 Year Staff Silver Anniversary Celebrations on Friday 2nd October we launched the Houghton International Annual Performance Awards.

The awards are created to recognise: outstanding day to day contributions, outstanding overall commitment, outstanding overall achievement, high level of praise and feedback, positive attitude and flexibility within our staff.

THE WINNERS ARE:

Outstanding Performance (HV/HT Business Unit):

Maxine Evans, Coil Operative & Lyndsay Lockhart, Coil Operative

Outstanding Performance (LV Business Unit):

Davy Sams, Apprentice Training Officer & Ian Cranston, Fitter/Turner

Outstanding Performance (Rail Business Unit):

John Downey, Coil Inserter/Fitter & Piotr Latuszek, Welder

Apprentice of the Year:

Stu Cowans, Apprentice

Outstanding Newcomer of the Year:

Emma Pattison, Marketing Executive

Outstanding Performer in a Supporting Role:

Jane Craig, Finance & HR Manager

Outstanding Commitment Award:

Albert Parr, Fitter/Turner & Davy Livingstone, Armature Winder

Customer Service Award:

Chris Robson, LV Business Unit Deputy Manager

Safest Pair of Hands Award:

Carolyn Herdman, Health & Safety Advisor

Most Helpful Award:

Graeme Leese, Finance Administrator

Bright Idea Award:

Brian Douds, Compliance Manager

Unsung Hero / Heroine Award:

Krystyna Malinowska, Project Manager

Outstanding Achievement Award:

Michael Mitten, Managing Director

 

Congratulations to all our winners. Photos will appear shortly.