Plastics firm appoints new managing director

A North East manufacturer has announced the appointment of a new managing director.

Geoff Hodgson has joined Bishop Auckland-based Plastic Mouldings Northern Ltd as part of a major staff expansion to their management team. 

His arrival follows Grace Collingwood, who has joined as internal sales co-ordinator, Lewis Rigg (CAD/CAM engineer) and Matthew Whittle, who comes in as sales manager, and joins business partners Freddy Bourdais and Mark Rigg, who founded the company in 2002.

Geoff, who has more than 30 years of experience in the plastic industry, joins the team after 13 years with Formula Plastics Ltd as managing director, after working his way up from factory labourer sweeping floors and setting machines, before going on to hold senior positions as production manager and operations director. 

He said: “I have joined a company that has grown year on year for almost quarter of a century so, it’s safe to say, I’m starting on strong foundations with a well-established team. 

“Fast moving sales with short lead times is something that excites me, and having colleagues around me that are embracing change has really helped me settle in.

“I have only been with Plastic Mouldings Northern for a short period of time, but from day one I could see they care about staff, the business and the sector we are in, and that was right up my street as I do too.

“From the onset it is evident that maintaining and growing long standing relationships is hugely important to everyone at Plastic Mouldings Northern and this has always been my own manufacturing ethos. It made joining Plastic Mouldings Northern an easy choice, at such an exciting time. 

“Building and keeping relationship is what I have always tried to do. I don’t want to just win work, I want to win relationships and help take the drama off a customer’s desk.”

In his new role Geoff will oversee operational management of the two sites at Bishop Auckland, manning machinery, materials, methods and challenge current process and procedures to drive efficiencies and reduce waste.

The main output at Plastic Mouldings Northern is the production of vacuum formed plastic parts, for a range of industries from automotive and aerospace, to the food industry and brands they serve globally includes The London Underground, Bentley, McLaren, BAE, the Ocado group and Bosch. 

They are also one of the UK’s leading suppliers of plastic packaging solutions, including Euro containers, across a wide range of industries and store more than 100,000 products on their three acre-plus site.

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