Pump firm primed for more success after winning 'Golden Ticket' contest

One of the region’s oldest engineering firms is breaking new ground in global export markets.
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Tomlinson Hall & Co, of Billingham has distributed pumps and power transmissions since 1919, primarily for the UK market, but has spent the last six years establishing itself as a worldwide player.

With its own Liquivac pump, Tomlinson Hall is rapidly becoming globally recognised after “graduating” from the Department for International Trade’s (DIT) “Export Academy”.

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Since 2015, the business has gone from exporting a small number of pumps to customers in Germany to distributing Liquivac and other pump products into over 80 foreign markets.

Colin Simpson, of Tomlinson Hall.Colin Simpson, of Tomlinson Hall.
Colin Simpson, of Tomlinson Hall.

The Export Academy is a free programme specifically designed to help North East firms sell products and services overseas - but needing to upskill staff or requiring a knowledge refresh.

The family-owned company has long been a trusted supplier to distilleries, the food and drink industry, pharmaceutical, utilities and chemical sectors but success in a DIT competition in 2015 has seen Tomlinson Hall open markets across Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, and Asia.

Business development director Colin Simpson said: “We had been exporting some pumps, but it was winning the “Golden Ticket to Dubai” contest in 2015 that really lit a fire under our export success.

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“We worked with the DIT to understand the market and suddenly here was these huge opportunities to put our product in front of a new and rapidly developing market.”

He added: “Seventy five per cent of industry pumps are blue, so we made ours purple. We’re the ‘Purple Pump People’.

"It’s simple, but we stand out and we’re constantly improving their performance and efficiency.”

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