Nifco welcomes Duke of York for official factory opening (From The Northern Echo)

Nifco welcomes Duke of York for official factory opening

8:00am Friday 17th February 2012 in North-East Business News By Owen McAteer

THE chief executive of Tees Valley injection moulding firm Nifco UK's Japanese parent company praised the UK operation as its new manufacturing plant opened yesterday.

The Duke of York officially opened the new £8.5m factory at Eaglescliffe, near Stockton which will supply components for nearly every UK-made car on the road.

The relocation from its present plant at Yarm Road, Stockton, which it has occupied since 1967, will allow Nifco UK, which has a £38m turnover, to fulfil new contracts secured within the last year with Honda, Nissan and Jaguar Landrover, as well as diversify into the electric vehicle components market.

The expansion is expected to see Nifco UK take its staffing levels to 300 people, compared to the 158 it employed this time last year.

The plant at Durham Lane Industrial Estate, was funded by the firm's Japanese parent company Nifco Inc, as well as £1.65m from the Government's Regional Growth Fund, and is expected to safeguard the company's presence in Stockton for at least 20 years.

Nifco Inc president and chief executive Masaru Onodera, who travelled from Japan to attend the opening ceremony, said: "It is a tremendous honour to be here and see our fantastic new factory officially opened by Prince Andrew.

"Nifco UK Ltd continues to go from strength to strength and the move to Eaglescliffe represents a really exciting step forward for the business.

"We are sure the relocation to a state-of-the-art factory will allow the team here in the North East to achieve great things in the future."

Prince Andrew was taken on a tour of Nifco's current factory, before travelling to the new plant.

Mike Matthews, managing director of Nifco UK Ltd, said: "We are absolutely delighted to have The Duke of York here to officially mark the opening of our Eaglescliffe factory.

"It has taken many days, weeks and months of planning to get to this point, so to finally be officially open for business in Eaglescliffe is a very proud moment for me and the rest of the team at Nifco.

"The new factory will allow the company to realise its potential and reach even greater heights over the coming months and years."

Bob Cook, leader of Stockton Borough Council, which worked closely with Nifco on the move, said: "Our work with Nifco demonstrates that the public sector in this region is committed to working alongside the private sector to boost our economy."