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£200k investment boosts Consett manufacturer's plans to create 40 new North East jobs

UK Steel Enterprise is investing £200k in a company with ambitious plans to design, develop and manufacture innovative medical devices in Consett.

Surgical Dynamics Ltd currently has a development and design team of nine but a total investment of more than £600k will see production under way and create 40 new jobs in the next three years.

The company already has an order book totalling £500k and its projected sales figures for 2017 are £3.5m.

The UK Steel Enterprise investment comes from its Equity Growth Fund, backed by the government’s Regional Growth Fund, and is made up of £20k equity finance and a £180k unsecured loan.

The funds will help Surgical Dynamics to purchase equipment needed for manufacture at Surgical Dynamics’ base on the town’s Number One Industrial Estate. The company designs single-use disposable medical devices including obstetric forceps and laparoscopic instruments.

Managing Director Claire Jessup, whose husband Mark and sons Stephen and Simon are also on the Surgical Dynamics team, said: “We are totally committed to manufacturing in Britain and creating employment in the North East.

“We are confident that we can provide British-made high quality products and also compete very successfully with off-shore production in terms of price and delivery.

“The UK Steel Enterprise investment has been crucial. It has helped with set-up costs and the purchase of equipment including a specialised moulding machine. We knew of UKSE and heard good reports about them as investors from other companies. It was a straightforward process and we are very pleased to have their support.”

“The use of hygienic disposable instruments is a fast-growing market and we are one of the few UK companies with the expertise and equipment to handle design right through to manufacture under one roof,” said Claire.

“This sector is highly regulated with stringent quality control so this is a great advantage for us. Sourcing from abroad can involve ordering huge quantities, difficulties with lead times and expensive shipping costs so we are very confident that we can compete with foreign competition on quality, on price and on delivery.

She added: “Our future investment plans include the installation of a clean room so that we can also handle all packaging in-house.”

There are 168 acute NHS Trusts and 100 private hospitals in the UK as well as a large potential market in Europe and Surgical Dynamics already has interest from potential customers in Spain, Canada and Australia.

Peter Taylor, Area Manager for UK Steel Enterprise, the business-support subsidiary of Tata Steel, said: “This is an exciting early-stage company with considerable potential and an experienced and highly committed management team. Our investment is helping to create a significant number of jobs in Derwentside and support a boost for manufacturing in Britain.”

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