A safety firm saw a big increase in sales as demand for PPE led to it opening a new factory in the North East.
Blyth鈥檚 Draeger Safety 海角视频 has issued accounts for 2020 which show that its turnover increased from 拢108.6m a year earlier to 拢130.1m, while operating profit went up from 拢7.1m to 拢12.0m.
Draeger makes a wide range of safety equipment and in January opened a new plant on Gateshead鈥檚 Follingsby Park to cope with surging demand for personal protective equipment in the health and social care sectors. The development created 40 new jobs.
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In the accounts, the company said demand for PPE for key workers had 鈥榲ery significantly increased鈥, providing a major boost to revenues.
But it warned that demand in other areas of the business had fallen as parts of the economy shut down during the pandemic, and it was having to monitor changing conditions to be able to react quickly.
In the accounts, the company says: 鈥淕lobal and 海角视频 trading conditions were obviously impacted by the Covid-10 pandemic.
鈥淒emand for certain products, in particular PPE, was very significantly increased, while demand for other product areas was sharply reduced as a result of lower economic activity across the global economy. The company continues to maintain the Draeger brand鈥檚 well-established 125 year history and reputation for quality and technical excellence while developing innovative solutions focussed on customer needs.
鈥淭he company continued to benefit from its diverse product portfolio and customer base and the company also invested heavily in additional production capacity to support the providion of PPE to key workers in the 海角视频 and the NHS in particular.
鈥淭his included the opening of an additional production facility for this product range in North East England.鈥
The accounts show that most of the company鈥檚 revenue growth came in the 海角视频, where sales rose from 拢33.4m a year earlier to 拢52m. Sales in Europe rose only slightly and were essentially flat in the rest of the world.
Staff numbers rose from 486 to 520 as the company expanded during the year, putting almost 拢3m on the wage bill.
The company - which is owned by a German parents group - is not paying a final dividend.
