Teesside hearing aid business expands production

A Teesside hearing aid component manufacturer has expanded into new premises as it prepares to double its production and take on new staff.

Normanby Laboratory Services, set up by husband and wife team Paul and Diane Lincoln, provide custom earpieces for hearing aids to the NHS via the NHS supply chain and has also diversified into hearing protection for industrial and leisure use.

The firm has moved into UK Steel Enterprise’s Innovation Centre on the Kirkleatham Business Park at Redcar to provide additional workshop and office space.

Paul said: “We have just won another major contract and are waiting to hear if we have been successful with six more tenders submitted to NHS hospitals.

“If we win even some of them then we will definitely need more staff. The business has grown out of my first job as the very first earmould technician working within the NHS at The James Cook University Hospital and I believe we are now in a strong position in a multi-million pound market.

“We are among a very small number of companies with this level of expertise, experience and the important accreditations all in place and our reputation has grown within the NHS.

“We had to move from our existing business premises about three years earlier than we planned because we just ran out of space. We knew the facilities and support at the Innovation Centre were ideal for us so we waited until the size of workshop we wanted was available. We are now really settled and looking forward to the future with confidence.”

Normanby Laboratory Services also trades as Plugzz, manufacturing and supplying customised hearing protection for workers in the engineering, chemical, steel and oil sectors as well as to motorcyclists, musicians and gun users.

Paul added: “Currently this makes up about 25% of our business but is expanding fast and there is a lot of potential.

“We are going on-site to some companies to take impressions and provide workers with individually fitted hearing protection. They are not only the most efficient, offering protection from water and dirt as well as noise, but they are also cheaper than disposables in the long term as they can last for up to five years.

“We are taking Plugzz to various leisure fairs and events and getting a lot of interest from abroad with customers in Europe, South Africa and Australia.”

Sue Kirk of UK Steel Enterprise, the Tata Steel business-support subsidiary, added: “Our Innovation Centres are designed to provide the cost-effective facilities and support that expanding companies like Normanby Laboratory Services need. They can concentrate all their time on their core business without worrying about premises and we don’t tie businesses in to long leases.”

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