Teesside tanker company wins £100,000 investment

A Teesside company has won a £100,000 investment to move into a major new market.

Hutchinson Technical Services Ltd, alongside its sister company Hutchinson Transport are using their expertise in the tanker sector to move into the liquid petroleum gas market.

The Middlesbrough-based company has been backed in their move with a £100,000 investment from UK Steel Enterprise, the Tata Steel Business support subsidiary.

They have secured an exclusive contract with Calor, the UK’s leading supplier of LPG, to maintain its substantial domestic fleet of LPG storage tanks.

Hutchinson Technical Services has doubled in size since UK Steel Enterprise invested £50,000 in 2005 and this second investment has helped it purchase the specialist equipment it needs to service the LPG sector.

The contract means that it is also looking for five new employees to join the 50-strong workforce currently employed at both companies.

Managing Director, Bruce Hutchinson said: “This investment has meant that we could purchase the de-gassing, shot-blasting and specialist painting equipment that we need to operate the Calor contract and others.

“We have put a huge amount of time and effort into developing this new market and now it has paid off.

“We have a long-standing relationship with UK Steel Enterprise and this latest investment was absolutely vital to our plans.

“UKSE came good again, at a time when SMEs are finding it difficult to acquire investment, after being there for us eight years ago when we needed help.

“When we realised the extent of the competition we were facing from China we took a calculated decision to explore new areas and not to stand still during the recession.

“We have taken every opportunity to establish ourselves with premium customers and use the experience, expertise and engineering skill-set we’ve acquired to get ourselves into specialist niche markets.

“We now have customers from across the UK and Europe, especially within Germany and the Benelux countries.

“We’ll continue to invest in people and training to make sure that we maintain the high level of experience and the skills we need in order to keep growing.”

In 2012 the company opened new premises in Hull and also invested in new premises and equipment to relocate an ailing Widnes business that it had taken over to Runcorn.

It has also branched out into the container haulage business and manufactures bespoke cabins including anti-vandal and high security models.

UK Steel Enterprise’s Regional Executive Peter Taylor said: “This company shows exactly how a relatively small investment at the right time can play a very important part in ensuring growth.

“Hutchinson Technical Services has made amazing strides since we first invested.

“We are delighted to be backing this latest expansion and have every confidence in the company’s future.”

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