A growing North East engineering has made an acquisition that will expand its offering.
Jarrow’s UTS Engineering has bought Buckinghamshire-based Ulrich Ltd, a specialist attachment manufacturer for mobile plant machinery.
Established in 1998, Ulrich designs front-end attachments for wheeled loaders, tractors, excavators and telescopic handlers for customers including JCB, Volvo, Cat, Bell, CNH and Liebherr.
Ulrich, which has a staff of 15 and turnover of around £5m, has worked with another group company, LCR in Hull, with UTS saying the two firms have “strong synergies”.
UTS was established in 2001 by managing director Shaun Sadler and employs more than 250 staff, most of whom are based at the company’s design and manufacturing facility at the Bede Industrial Estate, Jarrow.
Mr Sadler said: “Ulrich is highly respected in its sector for the quality and innovation of its products. It has an exceptional management team, headed by Jim Hopkinson, who founded the business in 1998.
“Amongst its customers are some of the world’s most iconic brands such as JCB and Volvo and it operates in a wide range of industries, including aggregates, recycling and forestry, as well as supplying organisations such as the Environment Agency, the Ministry of Defence and the US Army.
“We saw immediate synergies with the work we are already doing in the market through LCR Limited and when we realised there was an opportunity to purchase the business we moved very quickly.”
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UTS Engineering produces couplings, flange adapters and repair clamps for customers in the 海角视频 and export markets.
It operates primarily in the utilities sector in the 海角视频, with a growing presence in the Middle East. It has an office and manufacturing facility in Dubai, two offices in Abu Dhabi and is about to open a factory and office in Saudi Arabia.
Jim Hopkinson, managing director at Ulrich Attachments Ltd, said: “We have a very good reputation in the market, not least due to our exceptional design capabilities and we have a strong order book. However, we remain very ambitious and to grow the business further we really need to step up our export activity, where we see great opportunities.
“We have developed a very good working relationship with UTS Engineering and we felt that with the additional resource that it can make available together with its growing presence across the Middle East, that it was perfectly placed to take the Ulrich brand to the next level.
“There are exciting times ahead as we look forward to being part of the group and to moving the business to the next level.”
Matt Collen, partner in the corporate and commercial team at Sintons, alongside senior associate Emma Pern, completed the deal on behalf of UTS.