Member Article

North East manufacturer motors on stateside order

North East engineering firm GT Group have secured a multi-million pound order from an American heavy duty truck and mining equipment company.

Ground Force Manufacturing’s executive vice-president John Chambers made the trip from Idaho, to be at GT Group for the handover of the first long wheel base truck.

The truck has been completed in time to be shipped to America for one of the biggest mining equipment exhibitions in the world; MINExpo International 2012 in Las Vegas.

It stands more than 13 ft high, and will be used to service even bigger vehicles in quarries and mines with oil, water and fuel.

Two larger vehicles are due to be delivered across August and September by GT Group as part of the deal.

John Chambers said: “The MINExpo International is a significant event in our sector’s business calendar and it was imperative that this truck was completed in time to appear at this world scale event.

“GT Group has an outstanding reputation for its state-of-the-art engineering capabilities and that was why we decided to award this prestige contract to the company.

“GT Group has more than met our expectations by meeting a challenging deadline without compromising on quality or service.”

Geoff Turnbull, GT Group Chairman, added: “This contract demonstrates how GT Group works in partnership with its customers to help them achieve a competitive edge in the global marketplace.

“The handover of the 730 LWB Fuel and Lube truck is testament to the hard work, dedication and skills of our workforce.”

Chassis for the vehicles are being supplied by the Caterpillar facility in Peterlee, with bespoke bodies manufactured at GT Group.

The Ground Force deal is helping GT Group to achieve its ambitious growth programme of increasing its workforce to 500 in the next three years and to increase its turnover to £80m-plus.

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