Member Article

Peterlee’s GT Group doubles factory size

Peterlee-based environmental engineering specialists GT Group have doubled the size of their Whitehouse Business Park factory with the acquisition of premises next door.

The move will see the firm take on another 50,000 sq ft of space as they aim to grow turnover by more than 35% in 2014.

GT Group Chairman Geoff Turnbull said: “We are entering an exciting new phase, which is one of the most significant in the company’s history and will guarantee the longevity of the business for decades to come.

“Everyone at GT Group is passionate about manufacturing and the North East and we are proud to be helping the region make its mark throughout the world – we export to 60 countries with overseas sales accounting for 80 percent of our turnover, which grew by 25 percent, in 2012/13.

“Pundits keep writing off manufacturing as a dying industry. However, GT Group’s mega expansion, our extremely healthy advance order book and the extent of our exports puts paid to this myth.”

GT Group recently announced it had secured £100 million worth of new advance orders adding to a healthy order book that will keep its workforce fully employed until 2020.

The firm, which employs 350 people across the North East, comprises five businesses that design and manufacture a variety of products including emission reduction products for industrial vehicles, coupling systems for transferring oil, gas and other hazardous liquids and specialist bodies for the mining industry.

This year, GT Group was honoured in two prestigious independently researched business rankings

It came 74th in the Sunday Times International Track 200, which highlights Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing overseas sales,

It also was named as the North East company with the fastest-growing profits in theSunday Times PwC Profit Track 100.

Mr Turnbull began his career as an engineering apprentice at the age of 15 forming GT Group in the 1980s.

Today it has a head office at Peterlee, County Durham, and sites in Consett, Newton Aycliffe and Sunderland.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .