This Monday (21 October 2013), Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. hosted the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, The Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable, at its Consett site in the North East of England.
Dr Cable, who was making a wider tour of companies in the North East, arrived at Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. at 10am and met with representatives of the company including Tom Swan, the Chairman and Harry Swan, the Managing Director and great grandson of the company’s founder. He was also introduced to apprentices and operations staff at the company during a tour of the plant that lasted for about 1 hour.
Thomas Swan, which was founded in Consett in 1926, is a family owned and run speciality chemical manufacturing company with sales of approximately £27M and 165 employees. The company has just invested £2M in a new multi-purpose glass-lined plant to support its Contract Manufacturing Division and is also a world leader in the production of single-wall carbon nanotubes. During his tour of the site Dr Cable was shown the new facility, the existing single-wall carbon nanotube plant and plans for a new pilot-scale facility for the production of graphene.
Business Secretary Vince Cable, pictured with Harry Swan, Managing Director, Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd.
Harry Swan, Managing Director of Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Secretary of State to our site and show him some of our plans for future growth. The chemicals sector is an important and growing part of the UK’s economy and I think Dr Cable recognises the need for industry and government to collaborate to deliver this growth.”
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “Thomas Swan & Co is an example of modern British manufacturing excellence showing other small businesses how to grow and win business overseas. In total the sector employs two and a half million people and contributes almost £140 billion a year but it has considerable growth potential.
“We have a formidable research and development base in the UK and one of the Government’s focuses is making sure this gets translated into business success. On top of the business' contribution to growth, I am grateful to Harry Swan for his contribution to the Chemicals Sector Industrial Strategy.”
About Thomas Swan
Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. was founded in the UK in 1926 and remains an independent family owned and run performance and speciality chemical manufacturing company. In October 2013 Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. was recognised as one of the 50 fastest growing companies in the North East by the Ward Hadaway Fastest 50 Awards. The company turns over approximately £27m per annum, employs 165 people and exports to over 83 countries from its manufacturing headquarters in the North East of England. It has offices in the USA and China. The business is divided into 3 divisions which include Performance Chemicals, Custom Manufacture and Advanced Materials.
For further information please visit the Thomas Swan website.