Mayor Visits Surface Treatment Specialist Making Mark On The Globe

Mayor Ben Houchen has visited a Tees Valley surface treatment machine specialist that is seeing success on a global scale.

Vixen Surface Treatments, based in Thornaby, is a market leader in the design and manufacture of equipment used in surface treatments, including wet and dry blasting cleaning machines.

The company was founded in 1990 and, as it approaches its 30^th anniversary in the Tees Valley, Mayor Houchen met Managing Director Aidan Mallon to learn more about its operations.

Vixen employs around 70 staff at its Stockton-on-Tees base and serves companies in technical industries such as aviation, engineering and manufacturing.

Thousands of machines are produced in the factory every year, with 40% exported worldwide. The firm counts Redbull F1, BAE Systems, Black and Decker, Ford, Rolls-Royce, London Underground and Hotpoint among its household-name clients.

Mayor Houchen said: “Vixen has gone from strength to strength over the past few years, creating good-quality, highly skilled jobs and apprenticeships for local people.

“Teesside businesses are recognised the world over for their ingenuity and engineering excellence. Vixen is yet another example of a proud Teesside company that is growing by winning contracts from some of the biggest companies in the world. I look forward to seeing them continuing to flourish into the future.”

Mr Mallon said: “It was a pleasure to host Mayor Houchen and tell him about our history, our work with some big-name brands and our plans to build on what we’ve achieved in the future. We’re passionate about Tees Valley and we want to do all we can to make sure we will be in the area for the next 30 years – and beyond.”