BFPA NE Regional Meeting held at Hydrasun

24 Oct 2023

As part of a new engagement initiative for 2023, BFPA held a regional meeting in the Northeast on 18th October. The meeting was hosted by BFPA distributor member Hydrasun Teesside at their brand new 20,000 sq. ft office and workshop facility at Teesside Industrial Estate, Thornaby, Stockton on Tees.

Chris Butcher and Martin Kingsbury represented the BFPA at the event, which was co-hosted by David Whiles, Operations Manager and Neil Holmes, Regional Manager of Hydrasun.

An overview of the BFPA’s latest activities and initiatives was followed by an open forum discussion on the challenges facing the fluid power industry covering issues such as how to fill the “skills gap” which is facing UK manufacturing in general, not just fluid power.

BFPA MD Chris Butcher commented: “Many of our members have already invested in apprentices through local Technical Colleges to help fill their own “skills gaps”, and are increasingly following this route. Government support is lacking, with no clear direction for education when it comes to manufacturing and engineering sector. Manufacturing in general, not just fluid power, is struggling to fill over 70,000 vacancies (figure from Make UK & OFS Sept 2023) – this is a real challenge for our industry.”

A particular focus of 2023 for BFPA, has been to encourage members to engage with their local Technical colleges, UTCs and STEM ambassadors to promote their business and the fluid power industry.

The meeting was an excellent platform for sharing ideas and networking and was followed by an overview of Hydrasun’s business and a tour of the very impressive new facility. BFPA member companies attending the event were: Hydrasun, Hydraulic & Offshore Supplies, MD Engineering Fluid Power Ltd, R&G Fluid Power – Seals & Gaskets Division, Haskel Europe Ltd, Industrial and Marine Hydraulics (IMH), Hydraulic System Products Ltd, Hopespare Ltd and Arco Ltd. It was great to meet current and even a few prospective member guests to share ideas and enthusiasm for all things fluid power.

BFPA’s next Regional Meeting will be held in Scotland on 15th November click here for more information