Posted to News on 19th Feb 2009, 10:31
The Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Councillor Mrs Jane Bird, took time out recently to visit one city manufacturer that is bucking the current economic downturn. She was responding to an invitation from Kevin Parkin, Managing Director of local heavy engineering firm DavyMarkham, to tour the giant works in Prince of Wales Road, which has secured a number of important export orders lately, including a $20million contract for gold mining equipment in North America and others for tunnel boring machine cutterheads, destined for India and China.
During her visit, Mrs Bird toured the 35,000 sq metres engineering workshops and viewed several major machining and fabrication projects currently in progress. Accompanied by Kevin Parkin, she met DavyMarkham's Financial Director, Duncan Hay, Production Director, John Watson, Chairman of the JSSC, Sam Wragg, and two of the firm's current intake of technical apprentices, Ryan Clarkson and Billy Street-Simmons, both from Sheffield.
Mrs Bird heard how the firm is continuing to expand its workforce, with the appointment of seven new office and shopfloor staff since the beginning of the year and a 260,000 investment in its ongoing apprentice recruitment programme, as a result of which young trainees now constitute almost twenty per cent of production staff. She commented favourably on this thriving Sheffield enterprise and said that it was encouraging to see a local manufacturer competing successfully in key national and international markets such as mining, steel production, energy and civil engineering.
Councillor Jane Bird said: "I am really impressed with what I've seen in this local company and it's great to see this Sheffield firm getting orders and continuing to grow, despite the current tough economic climate. I wish DavyMarkham every success."
