Member Article

Expanding sheet metal fabricator and laser cutting firms create jobs with Sunderland Council support

Two growing companies started by two generations of the same family are recruiting staff and investing in new equipment with support from Sunderland City Council.

Almet Sheetmetal Fabrications, based on the Armstrong Industrial Estate in Washington, was started by Paul Almond 20 years ago, and laser cutting firm Temla was founded in the same factory by his son and daughter, Paul and Hayley, in 2013. Now Temla has moved into independent premises to cope with an increase in orders.

Almet originally started as a general sheet metal company but now its biggest customers are Nissan, Komatsu and Caterpillar. It also supplies other automotive firms, the construction industry and lift companies Otis and Stannah.

The company has invested £65k in a new brake press machine and has taken on six staff as it diversifies its customer base, bringing its staff numbers to 19.

Almet’s Paul Almond said: “Our work with Nissan is at the site, not on the products or the cars themselves. We do material handling and logistics, which means we get peaks and troughs. When there is a new car or model changes we are very busy.

“We are now diversifying to include other industries. My oldest son Richard is an architect in London, and his contacts have helped us to win high-end architectural metalwork from a polo club in Singapore, contracts in Geneva and work on the doors at Glasgow Central Station.”

Richard Almond has also recently created a sideline company, Novocastrian, selling bespoke furniture and using both Temla and Almet to supply all products.

Paul’s youngest son Dean also works with Almet and Novocastrian as a fabricator and his wife Rosalind is employed in the business. Son Paul and daughter Hayley came on board two years ago when Temla was founded to improve Almet’s lead times for jobs involving laser cutting.

Paul said: “We were having issues getting laser cut profiles, which was delaying the service we could provide, so we bought a laser so we could do everything in house and provide a better service.

“At the time, Hayley was manager for a car rental company and Paul was working as a manager in the restaurant industry. I asked if they were interested in coming into the business and we set up Temla within the factory.”

Temla has since invested in a state of the art £400k Swiss-made laser and in addition to providing laser cutting services for Almet, the company is also targeting the oil and gas and signage industries.

Hayley said: “We moved into our own premises on the NEP Business Park in Sunderland at the start of January. We have two staff and an apprentice and are hoping to take on two more people immediately and a third when we move on to split shifts at the end of this year.

“We plan to invest in a second laser and we also want to go into fabrication. We are a young company but we are keen to grow.”

Both Almet and Temla’s expansions have been supported by Sunderland City Council.

Councillor Harry Trueman, deputy leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “There is advice and support available from the City Council for new and growing businesses like Temla, as well as more established small businesses like Almet.

“Ambitious businesses like these and others engaged in the manufacturing, engineering and technology sectors are precisely the types of enterprises we want to encourage to grow in Sunderland. It is heartening to see two generations of entrepreneurs in the Almond family and we are proud to be playing a part in their expansion.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →