Member Article

Recruitment drive continues as engineering company hits 150 employee milestone with appointment of new apprentices

Following its most successful year to date, Houghton International is celebrating reaching a 150-strong workforce for the first time in the company’s history, after increasing its workforce by 50% in the last 3 years. The recruitment of two new apprentices, as well as additions to the sales and engineering teams and a number of new operational staff have all contributed to reaching this milestone. A total of 28 apprentices are now employed by the business, making it one of the top employers of apprentices in the North East.

The electro mechanical engineering specialist was also recently recognised in the top 10 at the 2019 Best Places to Work Awards for the second year running, cementing its position as one of the North East’s leading employers. The awards are judged on a number of criteria, including the role the business plays in the community; perks, benefits and bonuses offered to staff; looking after staff health; and efforts to provide a good work-life balance.

Houghton International has seen consistent growth for over 5 years, recruiting 17 new employees in the last 4 months alone as the business has expanded and diversified its range of services. The past few years have seen the company’s expansion to a fourth operational site in Newcastle and the significant development of its pump services facilities, including a dedicated pump testing facility.

The company plans to continue to increase its workforce during the remainder of the year, and further recruitment is planned across the whole business to meet longer term business goals to 2025.

Michael Mitten, CEO, commented, “Reaching 150 employees is a fantastic milestone to celebrate as the business continues to expand. “In our most recent Employee Opinion Survey, 97% of employees told us they think Houghton International is a great place to work. We are constantly striving to ensure Houghton International is a great employer, and to receive recognition of this from the Best Places to Work Awards just confirms that what we’re doing is working.

“As we look to continue to grow our workforce, I would encourage anyone with an interest in joining the business to get in touch to find out more about us and what we have to offer.”

Founded in 1984, Houghton International is approaching its 35th year in business, having grown from serving just 1 customer to over 200 internationally from its base in Newcastle upon Tyne. Operating across a range of sectors including power generation, oil & gas, rail and industrial and manufacturing, the company provides repair, maintenance and life extension services regionally, nationally and internationally.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Eleanor McIntosh .