Member News
Largest capital investment in three years supports new facility, advanced automation and workforce growth.
Dyer has announced an investment of over £600,000 in its North East operations, marking the company’s largest capital spend in three years as it expands manufacturing capacity, invests in industry leading automation and grows its highly skilled workforce.
A global engineering partner to blue-chip firms, Dyer’s investment includes the development of a new 8,000 sq ft facility at the company’s existing Harelaw Industrial Estate site in County Durham. Designed to support fabrication and assembly work, the new space will increase capacity for project based orders, serving global customers across the oil & gas and energy sectors. The expansion complements Dyer’s existing 110,000 sq ft advanced manufacturing footprint, reinforcing the company’s five-decade commitment to the region.
Alongside the facility expansion, the multi award winning business has made a significant investment in automation as part of a wider programme to improve productivity and competitiveness. The business has installed a brand new, industry leading Matsuura Multi Pallet Horizontal CNC machining centre, enabling lights out machining and significantly increasing throughput.
The new system allows up to 96 jobs to be loaded in a single setup, compared to one job per setup previously, creating substantial additional capacity while maximising cycle time and improving cost competitiveness for customers. To further strengthen capability, the business has also installed a new large capacity lathe, extending both machining capacity and the range of work it can deliver.
The investment has been matched by growth in people, with 47 people onboarded over the past 12 months, taking current headcount to over 190. This has strengthened capability across engineering, operations and commercial functions, alongside continued investment in apprenticeships and early career roles through its nationally award-winning apprenticeship programme, with the next annual intake opening this month.
Adam Leggett, Managing Director at Dyer, said: “This expansion is about building for the long term. By investing in our people, equipment and facilities, we’re creating the additional capability needed to support our global customers and secure sustainable growth. It’s also a clear statement of confidence in our region. Manufacturing here continues to evolve, and this investment helps ensure we remain competitive on a national stage.”
The expansion will also further support the firm’s regional supply chain, with 71% of suppliers located within a 50-mile radius of its North East operations.
Now part of the newly established SST Group that brings together specialist engineering capabilities alongside Washington based Q-Laser, this spend forms part of the company’s ambitious five year growth strategy which aims to grow the workforce by a further 35% by 2030, continue targeted investment in new machinery and strengthen long term global partnerships.
