Manufacturer in drive to recruit 20 new workers
NORTH East manufacturer Komatsu has launched a recruitment drive for 20 jobs as its post-lockdown expansion continues.
Birtley based Komatsu UK (KUK) – now part of a group of 255 other companies employing around 62,000 people – originally created 250 jobs when it launched the plant in 1987.
The excavator manufacturer now has 514 employees and is continuing to grow with an intake of new recruits and a significant in-house promotion.
Komatsu’s post-lockdown recruitment drive has stepped up with 120 new faces arriving at the Birtley plant in recent months, as well as 10 new apprentices.
The firm has a further 20 roles advertised in the factory, including painters, fabricators and assemblers. Jobs are also being created within its design division and various support functions.
The new jobs are being created to service a host of orders secured from domestic and European markets and to continue building its workforce for future growth.
The company has also promoted Stephen Callaghan to the role of production control manager, making him just the third former apprentice to secure a management position at the company, based at Birtley for the past 34 years.
He joined in 1997, taking a fouryear apprenticeship before moving into fabrication, operating welding robots.
He was a planning engineer before being promoted to senior engineer in production control, until this year when he was welcomed into management at the plant, following David Newton and Michael Redshaw, the first and second apprentices to secure Komatsu UK management posts.
He said: “I began my Komatsu career as a raw 16-year-old apprentice, but always recognised the opportunity that working somewhere like Komatsu offered. The business apprenticeship programme is full of amazing success stories and countless former apprentices have gone on to forge long, successful careers here, with many progressing to senior positions.
“I hope that seeing people like myself, David and Michael progress into management helps the new starters appreciate the opportunity that they have here and what a great place it is to forge a career.”
Paul Blanchard, KUK managing director, said: “I’d like to congratulate Stephen on his well-earned promotion. His skill, determination and knowledge is formidable and an inspiration to others.
“We take pride in the way we invest in the development of employees and Stephen is a great example of someone who has seized every opportunity that came his way.
“I’d also like to welcome our new apprentices and the new employees we have recruited across the plant and look forward to working with them to sustain Komatsu’s continued success and growth.”
Komatsu this year toasted the global company’s 100th anniversary, marked by the planting of 10 cherry blossom trees and a floral display at the entrance to the plant.