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Gateshead vehicle innovator gears up for recruitment drive

Low-carbon vehicle innovator Sevcon is recruiting an additional 20 skilled staff after receiving a £400k grant to develop a new range of controllers for electric and hybrid vehicles.

The Gateshead-based company has been successful in securing cash from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) and it will be used to develop the next generation of its successful Gen4 controller.

The low voltage Gen 5 controller will provide additional functionality and deliver an improved performance exceeding the emerging environmental and regulatory benchmarks in smaller dimensions than its predecessor.

Sevcon president and chief executive officer Matt Boyle says it is currently in the process of recruiting an additional 13 staff to support this project, and expects to add a further seven as it builds momentum.

“This award comes at a time of rapid growth for the business and will help us cement our position as a world-leader in the motor control market.

“The world-wide drive for electrification gives us the confidence to invest in developing new products and this award is testament to the strength of the business proposition we currently offer,” he said.

Sevcon’s global product manager Stephen Chilton said: “The Gen 5 will put Sevcon at the forefront of the global electrification drive which aims to reduce the emissions of internal combustion engines through such applications as the replacement of traditional hydraulic and belt driven systems with electric motors. Some customers are predicting a 35% reduction in emissions.

“The Gen5 product will offer unparalleled ease-of-use, allied with the ability to customise the functionality and operation to allow users with small product volumes to have access to advanced ‘off-the-shelf’ electrification solutions.

“The support offered by the Regional Growth Fund allows Sevcon to invest in employing the world’s best engineers who will be needed to deliver these innovative products into environment saving applications in the coming years.”

Sevcon has shipped over 111,000 of its Gen 4 controller, which was launched in 2010 and is the undisputed market leader featuring in amongst others Renault’s electric, city quadricycle the Twizy.

It powers the majority of mid and high performance electric motorcycles around the world and is also proving popular with Tier I manufacturers for on-road vehicle applications in the rapidly growing Asian electrification market.

The Let’s Grow RGF programme, which is delivered by ncjmedia, BE Group and business advisers UNW, is a £60m grant scheme aimed at supporting job creating projects in the North East.

UNW partner Neville Bearpark said: “Sevcon is a prime example of the sort of project which Let’s grow will support.

“They are continually innovating to stay at the top of their game in a global marketplace and, in doing so, are creating quality jobs in the North-East.”

Sevcon is on a growth spurt after winning some major new contracts and this progress was reflected in its 2014 results with sales up 18% to $37.9m (£24.2m) from $32.2m (£20.5m) in 2013.

It also returned to the black, positing profits of $1m (£640,000), compared with an operating loss of $948,000 (£605,000) in the previous year.

However Mr Boyle has once more expressed his concerns over the availability of skilled North East engineers and technicians required to support its growth.

In recent months Sevcon has recruited engineers from Singapore, Greece and India, as well as two software engineers who work remotely for the company from Canada.

This has boosted numbers in its Team Valley headquartered research and product development team to 40 electronic and software engineers.

Sevcon is currently paying the tuition fees of six undergraduates at North East universities, with a guaranteed job on graduation.

Mr Boyle added: “Whilst there is now a wide-spread acknowledgement of the skills gap in the North East it is still proving to be a huge task to fill it.”

Mr Boyle has been appointed chairman of the skills group at the recently-formed North East Automotive Alliance and is aiming to help co-ordinate a concerted drive to help secure a pipeline of skilled staff for the industry.

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