Vacuum specialists to expand County Durham workforce

Family-owned vaccum parts suppliers PSI Global is aiming to double its turnover and increase its workforce by introducing four new products to market.

The firm, which is based in the former mining village of Bowburn in County Durham is working with Semta, the employer-led body engineering skills for the future, to recruit graduates, apprentices and to look at up-skilling its existing workforce.

It has plans to double its £4.5m turnover and increase the 55-strong workforce at Bowburn by concentrating on its core activities of innovation in vacuum and compressor products and technologies after what operations director David Hunter described as the toughest six years in business.

“We are in a strong position and hope to work with Semta to help get the workers and skills we need to make the most of the opportunities,” said Mr Hunter.

“We hope to be recruiting a mixture of local apprentices and graduates – the first placement has been very positive. We did a lot of work when things were not going so well and we are totally focussed on our core competencies.

“We have four new products which we plan to introduce over the coming months and thanks to the hard work of our employees we are optimistic that we can double our turnover in the next 24 months, creating new job opportunities for local people.”

PSI Global was incorporated by the Hunter family in 1976 after departing Dominik Hunter Ltd and is an internationally recognised expert in filtration and separation technology for the compressed air and vacuum industries.

PSI also licenses its technology to other filtration suppliers, has sales offices and distribution warehouses in Europe, North America and the Far East to support its clients global needs – it exports 65% of its products - and the company has won several prestigious awards including: Innovation for Industry; Queen’s Award for Export; Best Design Product for the Design Council and Manufacturing Industry Achievement Awards.

David Hunter, who is the son of managing director Sue, is excited by the expansion programme and says their County Durham base is key to its plans.

“We are a major employer in Bowburn and having been in existence for so many years it is important to us that as many of the people we employ as possible are from the local area,” he said.

“It takes at least two years for someone to get up to speed in our industry so when we invest in talent we like to think employees stay with us rather than use us as a springboard to go elsewhere.

“Having a local workforce, with home-grown skills, has in our experience led to greater continuity and helped us through the toughest business period we have ever encountered.”

Mathew Rowley enjoyed a work placement at PSI Global which he is hoping will lead to full time employment.

He was recruited under Semta’s graduate placement scheme supported by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) to provide small and medium sized companies with the grants to support the employment and training of graduates via their Employer Investment Fund (EIF).

The funding enabled PSI Global to give Matthew, who lives in nearby Sedgefield and is studying MEng Automotive and Motorsport Engineering at the University of Huddersfield, a three-month paid placement.

Matthew said: “I am aiming to push myself and try out new experiences by working in different places and environments. I am not afraid of a challenge so enjoy working hard and seeing the result of that work focussed on using my placement to expand my knowledge and create new contacts within the engineering industry.”