Dräger Safety UK to build new North East facility in multimillion-pound expansion

Drager UK in Blyth

Major Northumberland employer Dräger Safety UK is set to build a new North East facility as part of a multimillion-pound expansion plan.

The owner of the safety and medical technology specialist has announced it is in talks to acquire land for a new base close to its existing Northumberland plant, which employs 450 people. Dräger bosses said a number of locations are being considered which are close to the existing facility at Blyth Riverside Business Park, to make sure the company can retain the skills and experience of its existing staff, many of whom have worked with Dräger in Northumberland for many years.

The Blyth base, which marked 60 years of business last year, designs and manufactures breathing apparatus and gas detectors and is also home to the headquarters of the company’s safety division in the UK, as well as sales, service and support functions. The board has said that the new facility will also be significantly bigger than the current site.

However, while Dräger says its existing Blyth site “will remain in use for the immediate future”, it has yet to confirm if the new site will become a second North East base or a replacement for its current operations. The company said: “The Dräger Group has been operating in Blyth for more than 60 years. Although the current site, which the business owns, has been expanded during this time, it has now reached its capacity and further expansion is constrained due to its location. It has therefore become clear that a larger site is needed to accommodate the company’s predicted growth.”

Work is now under way to develop more detailed plans and to select a final site for the potential new facility, which it is hoped will accommodate research and development, manufacturing, sales, service and support. The firm said more details on the plans are expected to be announced in the coming months.

Malcolm Irving, Dräger’s head of global supply chain management, safety division and managing director, safety division UK & Ireland, said: “Today’s announcement is the culmination of over 18 months’ work to determine the best long-term future for the business in the UK, and I am delighted to be able to reaffirm our commitment to the North East. The new plans seek to enable the expansion of our operations in line with our anticipated growth projections over the coming years.

“Ensuring that we retain the skills and experience of our exceptionally committed and talented staff, many of whom have worked with Dräger here in Northumberland for many years, was instrumental in our decision to not only remain, but to further invest, in the North East over the coming years.”

Draeger Safety UK forms part of the wider Dräger Group, a family company launched in 1889 with over 16,000 employees in 50 countries, specialising in safety products for the utilities, oil and gas, renewable energy, emergency services and manufacturing sectors.

Stefan Dräger, chairman of the executive board, who is the fifth generation of the Dräger family to run the business, added: “This decision endorses our confidence in the UK for future business. Our site in the North East of England is an integral part of our global operations function.

“Blyth is a centre of excellence for the production of our breathing apparatus for global demand. The decision to invest in this project demonstrates our commitment to the future growth of the UK and to our people, committed to Technology for Life.”