Member Article

Durham car parts manufacturer develops new £11m press plant

One of County Durham’s biggest employers has expanded again with the development of a new £11m press plant.

Car parts maker Gestamp Tallent, which employs more than 1,300 people in Newton Aycliffe, has updated the oldest part of its huge site on Aycliffe Business Park.

The 17-metre tall extension is 75 metres in length and provides an extra 3,900 square metres of floor space, creating a 250m-long press shop with a volumetric size of 1.8 million cubic metres.

It is also home to two new state-of-the-art presses - costing £6.2m between them - which will improve efficiency and output.

Production within the new part of Plant 1 has already started, and while it signals the end of a two-year design project, it is only the beginning of another exciting chapter for Gestamp Tallent - ensuring the production of car parts in Aycliffe for more than 30 years.

It further cements Gestamp Tallent’s position in Aycliffe as the town’s biggest employer, as it continues to develop and invest in the future.

Plant Director Peter Gallone said: “This further demonstrates how important our people are to us, and we are to them.

“This is a 30-plus-year investment. We have presses that have been on site since 1982, so that gives you an idea of how long we want these facilities to carry on producing parts here in Newton Aycliffe.

“When people drive past and they see a 17-metre tall building coming out of the ground, they can see there’s investment here and it’s great for the town and the area.

“We employ more than 1,300 people directly - and hundreds more indirectly through our supply chain - which means we’re contributing significantly to the local economy, which we feel is important.

“We also think it’s important that we communicate with both our employees but also the local community.

“It’s part of my plan to open up to the local businesses and the local community, to help them understand what we do, in the hope that we continue to attract local people as employees.”

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