Focus on client innovation and competitiveness prompts £4 million investment by Hutchinson Engineering

Hutchinson Engineering has bolstered its award-winning business with a £4million investment in state-of-the-art laser cutting machines and an automated storage facility at its headquarters in Kilrea. This latest development, which represents the company’s largest capital investment to date, substantially increases the company’s capacity and fuels its vision to becoming the leading provider of engineering solutions in Ireland.

The company is led by the Hutchinson brothers Mark, CEO and Richard who is Commercial Director. Speaking of the positive impact the investment brings for customers, Mark commented:

“This major investment is partly in response to the growing number of enquiries we are receiving from clients seeking to nearshore their supply chains in materials handling, agriculture, coach building and road transport. The markets they operate in have seen immense volatility over the last few years due to Covid, increased fuel and shipping costs and carbon reduction targets. Our clients are adapting to this changing market landscape and our latest investment means that we can build long-term partnerships to help keep their businesses ahead of the curve.

This new automation significantly improves cutting speeds and allows us to hold more material on-site, therefore reducing lead times and improving our turnaround. This means we can bring an improved end-to-end service to clients, helping them to innovate, launch new products quicker and maintain their competitive advantage.

Sustainability has always been a core focus of the business and this latest development significantly reduces the carbon footprint of our operations thanks to the reduction in energy required to run the machines as well as fuel-saving on forklifts”.

Invest Northern Ireland has offered Hutchinson Engineering a Productive Investment Capital Grant (PICG) towards the cost of the capital purchase. It has also supported the company on its growth trajectory with help towards skills development, job creation and trade acceleration.

Grainne McVeigh, Invest NI’s Director of Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering, said: “The Productive Investment Capital Grant has helped many businesses make that important commitment to invest in their future. It has given Hutchinson Engineering the ability and confidence to continue investment in innovation. By purchasing the new laser cutting machinery, the company has increased capacity to meet customer demand, and will contribute to wider economic growth.”

Hutchinson Engineering was also supported in this latest investment by Danske Bank and by Lister Machine Tools, both having enjoyed long-standing relationships with Hutchinson. Representatives from both organisations joined with Invest NI at Hutchinson HQ recently to officially launch the new machinery.

To find out more about this latest development for the Kilrea organisation, view our launch video here