Perfect place for growth
A Sunderland engineering firm is already looking to more than treble its capacity just six months after launch.
Turnmill Engineering was established in February by experienced engineers Andrew Howe, Tony Renwick and Peter Tindle, largely to target the automotive industry.
The company is based at Sunderland City Council’s Washington Business Centre, near Nissan, and in a prime location to work with the car firm’s supply chain companies.
While the business has since been working closely with a number of Nissan suppliers, it has also enjoyed unexpected success in several other sectors.
Green energy and renewables businesses, construction and other non-automotive advanced manufacturers and a motorsports company are among its growing list of customers.
Turnmill manufactures consumables, jigs and fixtures and machine components, often reverse engineering them for repair purposes or designing them to solve problems or improve production line efficiencies. It also offers standalone design services, supported by computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM) technologies.
The company expects to take on a further 10 staff in the next two years. Meanwhile, it is hoping to more than double its floor space to 5,000 sq ft by moving into a larger unit at Washington Business Centre in the coming months.
Director Andrew Howe said: “Initially we were intending to solely focus on the automotive industry but things have just exploded into other areas as well since we opened. Washington Business Centre is a fantastic location for us, as a lot of manufacturers pass our doors every day and we’ve picked up a lot of customers that way.
“Part of our success comes from seeing a gap in the market for a customer services-focused engineering business. Many suppliers in our sector tend to neglect this side of operations, and simply focus on making components and selling them.
“We have striven to be customer services-led from the outset, and our commitment is winning results.”