Partner Article

Clocking into lucrative new markets

Prudent company bosses keen to monitor staff more closely during tough economic times have helped a 50-year-old North East business to a recession-busting year of growth.

Blaydon-based North East Time Recorders is powering ahead with plans for national expansion on the back of a 20% surge in sales.

The company started life making basic ‘clocking in’ machines for North East factories and, after many years of relatively static growth, is enjoying a resurgence as new technology brings with it numerous new opportunities.

The firm is working in partnership with Leeds-based Computime Systems to develop software which enables a biometric reader to act as a time clock as well as a system which can monitor the cost of particular tasks.

The company has also recently worked with national transport operator Arriva plc to help it compare the maintenance costs of the different bus models in its fleet.

Managing director and joint owner Chris Routledge said the company, which employs 13 full time staff, is now stepping up its bid to supply more national businesses.

“Historically we were just a small North East company but over the years it has grown and we now do anything from companies with five members of staff to those which employ 6,000 people.

“We want to push out and expand nationally. We want to push on to get a bigger market share of the time and work systems sector.

“Things are changing dramatically. Time attendance clocks were old fashioned but they are all coming back again. Technology has come into play and everything is network run.

“We did very well through the recession and we picked up quite dramatically – this may have been through cost-cutting by businesses, as well as the information you can get out of these [new] systems.”

The company was set up by the Pickup family in 1947 and stayed in the family until it underwent a management buyout in the late nineties.

Two years ago Mr Routledge and his fellow director Paul Docherty bought the firm themselves and are now eager to oversee its expansion after winning contracts with a number of heavyweight corporations including N-Power,

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .