Subsea group's export drive earns honours

Jul 27 2009 By Andrew Mernin

A GLOBAL industrial technology company on Teesside was last night named the North East Company of the Year at the biggest and best business awards in the North East. Tracerco’s success in winning the top title in the nebusiness awards, which are organised by The Journal and Evening Gazette in association with Business Link, caps a year of growth for the Billingham company, which specialises in subsea oil and gas work.

The company, which started as an ICI offshoot 50 years ago, has a workforce of 130 in the UK and 250 overseas and last year turned over more than £50m.

Tracerco products include its Profiler, which measures and controls the separation of oil and gas and won the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2003. The group is looking to increase
revenues by up to 10% a year as it steps up its overseas trade. It recently opened a second Middle East office and also operates in the US, China, Australia, Continental Europe, South America and Africa. It narrowly beat Walker Filtration, Durham and Wearside winner, and North Tyneside company Merit Merrell Technology, winner in Tyneside and Northumberland, for the trophy.

Walker Filtration employs 150 people in Washington making hi-tech filtration products for the compressed air and gas market together with medical products.

Wallsend engineer Merit Merrell employs more than 280 people and last year saw revenues top £50m after growth had accelerated steeply for six years.

The winners won applause from hundreds of business people at the presentation dinner at Hardwick Hall Hotel in Sedgefield, County Durham, last night.

David Simms, managing director of The Journal and Evening Gazette publisher ncjMedia, toasted the winners from a field of more than 340. He said: “There has been a record number of award entries – a remarkable thing when you think about it. What a terrific reaction to a tough economy and what a tremendous tribute to the resilience and spirit of North East business.

“What the awards do of course is highlight that not everything is economic doom and gloom. The regional final tonight showcases successful companies with positive, inspiring stories to tell. And it is so important at the moment that we do highlight success and celebrate excellence and high performers.”

The guest speaker last night was Lord (Michael) Bates who drew on his years of experience in both the Commons and the Lords for a string of entertaining anecdotes. The former Conservative minister also passed on lessons learned in his business career in financial services and currently running management consultancy Walton Bates in Durham.

All last night’s finalists had won sector awards in the sub-regional stages of the competition.