Christmas cheer for staff who feared for their jobs as a bright future is mapped out by new owner
Rapidly expanding AMF member, UTS Engineering has purchased the assets of Hull-based Matt Engineering, securing the jobs of its 12 staff.
Shaun Sadler, managing director of UTS Engineering, has met with staff and informed them of plans to increase the head count during the early part of 2019, as he looks to grow and diversify the business into new markets.
With its headquarters in Jarrow, UTS Engineering, which services customers in the utility, industrial and commercial markets, was successful in its bid to purchase the assets of the company from the Joint Administrators, Louise Freestone and Paul Mallatratt of Bridgewood Financial Solutions.
The 65,000sq ft facility, on Littlefair Road, Hull, has been a location for engineering and manufacturing for well over 100 years. It is a fully equipped one-stop-shop, offering fabrication, stress relieving, high precision machining, load testing, shot blast and paint and assembly and test. Its primary markets are nuclear, offshore, subsea, defence and structural steel industries.
It has been involved in many prestigious projects across the UK and, in London alone, has showcased its skills on The Shard, Leadenhall Building (Cheese Grater), Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium, the South Tower cable car support London Docklands and the Exoskeleton at Cannon House.
Shaun Sadler, managing director, UTS Engineering, said: “We are very pleased to take on this tremendous facility and, in particular, to inherit a very skilled and passionate workforce. I am personally delighted to break this news just prior to Christmas, so that the team can relax over the festive period with their families in the knowledge that their jobs are now secure. The team here has a strong track record in providing innovative solutions for many highly prestigious projects and they will be a very valuable addition to our growing business.
“We are very keen that the site continues to provide a high quality service to its existing loyal customers. In addition, we see it having the capacity to take on work from our existing plants on Tyneside and Wales when they experience peak demand. UTS Engineering has immense experience in the water sector and we have earmarked our new Hull operation, due to the technical skills of the team based there, as the ideal location to design and develop a new range of flood mitigation products.
“The consequence of this ambitious plan is that we will be investing in additional staff, equipment and processes during the course of 2019. The site will also benefit from the high quality practices that apply throughout the group including those around people development, health and safety and quality control.”
Joint Administrator Paul Mallatratt of Bridgewood Financial Solutions said: “We were very pleased to secure this sale, which represents a positive outcome for all stakeholders in the administration.”
UTS produces a vast range of couplings, flange adapters and repair clamps for customers in the UK and export markets. Its unique selling point is having the capability to provide almost any product for the piping industry, to incorporate tailor-made solutions and to fabricate its products to suit any size of diameter and oval pipes, if required.
The company employs over 200 staff. It has two sites in Jarrow, Tyneside. A 100,000 sq ft manufacturing plant on the Bede Industrial Estate and a 30,000 sq ft service facility based at the Viking Industrial Estate which, at any one time, holds £5 million in stock. 12 months ago it opened a 50,000 sq ft facility in Newport, Wales, to meet increasing demand from its customers.
Senior associate at Newcastle-based law firm, Sintons, completed the acquisition on behalf of long-standing client UTS, leading a team across Sintons’ corporate, employment and property departments.
Emma said: “UTS is an ambitious and fast-growing business creating and sustaining jobs in the North East and operating increasingly on a national basis. This acquisition sends out a clear sign of its intent and shows it is on a path of strong growth, and we look forward to supporting UTS as it continues to progress.”
