Engineering parts group Gentech thrives as newest arrival on T54 Business Park

Telford & Wrekin Council’s T54 business park is proving a strong base for companies as the UK economy recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, with newest arrival Gentech adding to the continuing success story.

The industrial and agricultural parts supplier invested £1 million in its move to T54 just months before the nation entered the first of a series of lockdowns but has continued operating throughout the crisis, even recruiting more staff.

Gentech Products moved to T54 from Hortonwood in Telford in October 2019, expanding to meet the needs of the business. The bigger site also provides the opportunity for future expansion.

Telford & Wrekin Council enabled the move through the development of purpose-built premises on T54 designed to specifically meet Gentech’s storage and processing requirements. The company provides engineering services and parts such as bearings, gearboxes, electric motors, pneumatics, and hydraulics to support the maintenance, repair, and manufacture of production machinery.

The 8,255 sq ft unit provides 7,104 sq ft of warehouse space and 1,151 sq ft of offices.

T54 was launched in response to the high demand for space in the area, using land sold on behalf of Homes England, and is now home to a string of notable companies including Cosma Casting UK, Filtermist, AXYZ International, Polytec Group and Torus Group.

Cllr David Wright, Cabinet Member for Economy, Housing, Transport and Infrastructure at Telford & Wrekin Council said: “We are delighted to see Gentech thriving following their move to T54, despite a tough time for the economy. The strength of all the companies now based on this business park underlines the long-term thinking behind our Telford Land Deal.

“This partnership between the council, Homes England and the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has enabled us to use available land to create sites ready for businesses who were crying out for development opportunities in Telford and Wrekin. It has been an unqualified success.”

The aim of the land deal was to accelerate the delivery of sites to market – including brownfield and stalled sites – with the aim of creating 2,800 new homes, 8,500 jobs and 300,000 sqm of commercial floor space over 10 years.

The Gentech move safeguarded the jobs of eight existing employees and enable the creation of three new jobs, while the building layout provides the opportunity for future expansion on the site, subject to planning approval.

Gentech director Pat Farla said: “The opportunity afforded to us by the parcel of land becoming available from Telford and Wrekin Council has enabled Gentech to not only be able to have a purpose-built building constructed, but also now with the extra space available, we are able to bring our two sister companies under one roof. Fluid Power Supplies and Micron Engineering now complete the facility, putting us in a position to be a truly “one stop shop”.

To complement Gentech’s already vast product range, we are now also able to offer pneumatic and hydraulic products while Micron Engineering offer in house gearbox and pump reconditioning, ram repairs, cnc machining and fabrication.

The continued growth of the company has us now looking at expansion onto our vacant piece of land to the side of our existing unit which would see a further 5 staff members being recruited.

Mandy Thorn MBE, chair of The Marches Local Enterprise Partnership, added: “The Telford Land Deal has been a real highlight in the Marches LEP’s Decade of Delivery. It shows that by working with all our partners across business, the public sector and academia we have achieved tangible results which deliver growth, jobs and prosperity across the region.”

Homes England’s development director Lucy Blasdale said: “It’s great to see yet another example of how public sector partners have facilitated the growth of existing Telford based businesses such as Gentech under the Telford Land Deal, strengthening the economic wellbeing of individual companies, the prosperity of the wider Borough of Telford & Wrekin and safeguarding & creating new jobs.”