Member Article

Tharsus creates 80 jobs with RGF Funding

A local engineering firm is creating 80 jobs in Northumberland after it was successfully offered £690,000 from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF).

Tharsus Engineering is also located near to the Alcan plant, which recently announced 500 redundancies, so they are also hoping to replace some of the jobs lost by local people.

The firm applied for funding to accelerate its partnerships with companies developing new products for the manufacturing and engineering industries. It will also be used to acquire a new third site to help them with their expansion plans.

The RGF will now go towards an overall investment of £3 million, which will ensure the plants in Hebburn and Blyth can continue to develop new and innovative products.

Tharsus chief executive Brian Palmer now hopes that this funding will provide Northumberland with a much-needed boost of morale.

“It’s extremely positive to be able to announce our success with the RGF bid, especially as South East Northumberland has taken some knocks recently, like the Alcan closure, and we are hopeful of being able to help some of those skilled people back into work.

“This significant funding will help us accelerate our expansion plans, create bright futures for some young people and help us capture a new marketplace, which is rife with opportunities.”

The success of Tharsus’s RGF bid has been attributed to their collaboration with other SME manufacturing companies in the region. Their collaborative bid is worth £1.79 million, and will create further jobs for the area.

Mr Palmer added: “Companies like ours need this type of support to be able to gear up for growth or we won’t compete globally to deliver contracts much needed here in the North East.

“As a virtual manufacturing arm for any company investing in product R&D our skilled engineering team can be working on anything from a touch-screen information unit through to a sizeable hydrogen generation plant for industry, so having the new technology and space to be able to take on any product is a huge advantage considering our new direction and business goals.

“This grant success is great news for us and the manufacturing scene as a whole in the region.”

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