Osborne Engineering wins grant to double turnover in five years

Mar 10 2010 by Iain Laing, The Journal

A COMPANY which makes bearings for the power industry has won a £350,000 grant to back its plans to double turnover to £20m in five years.

Cramlington-based Osborne Engineering Limited, which employs more than 140 staff, has won a £350,000 grant from regional development agency One North East as it builds its worldwide sales.

It is also taking on another 45 staff this year as it invests in growing its factory which makes bearings and gas turbine components from clients in the oil and gas, wind power and power generation industries.

Shukri Benfaied, OEL managing director, said: “This is a continuation of our investment and growth programme which began in 2004 and saw the workforce increase from 40 to more than 120 staff. This growth is driven by product development and penetration of export markets in Europe, Japan and India.

“Through an investment of over £2m in building and machinery and the recruitment of an additional 45 staff, this will enable us to continue to drive our export growth. We are grateful for the continued support of One North East in this important and vital project in the growth of OEL.”

The firm, which was launched in 1984, also has manufacturing facilities in Leicestershire and is now looking to open up offices in the Far East to compliment its international presence in Dubai and Poland, where it employs 40 staff.

The firm also said that it was looking to open offices in Africa through its acquisitions strategy, which saw it purchase Leicestershire firm Turbo Power Services in 2004, which added a further 20 jobs to the group.

Extending the premises will also prevent valuable work from being lost to competitors in Europe and free up more space to bolster other services including a design and engineering department, repair centre and training facility.

Ian Williams, One North East director of business and industry, said: “The oil and gas and wind power industries are important growth sectors for the North East economy, and One North East is pleased to support innovative firms such as Osborne Engineering in their bid to harness these opportunities and support their own development.

“Through the Grant for Business Investment we can look to help firms such as Osborne Engineering gain valuable access to finance to help the company with its future plans for export growth.”