Expanding North East fork lift truck specialist Permatt is celebrating its 35th anniversary year with record turnover and plans to expand the business into Yorkshire.
The Killingworth based business has achieved annual sales of £3.5m, up from £2.8m last year. With demand to buy and lease Toyota fork lift trucks on the rise, Permatt expects to see further growth during the next 12 months.
Permatt, the largest independent fork lift truck supplier in the North East, is now well on the way to building 400 vehicles in its long and short term fleet of materials handling equipment.
Mark Percy, managing director said: “We’ve come through the recession and during the last few years we’ve worked hard as a team to tighten our systems, focus on our customers and the quality of our service and the Toyota vehicles we offer.”
He said that becoming the Toyota dealer in the North East and Cumbria in 2013 took the business to a different level. During the same time Permatt also expanded into Cumbria opening a facility in Penrith.
“As a service business, our growth and success is a good barometer of the growth of our customers and the regional economies in which we work,” said Mark.
Permatt employs 24 people at its custom-built premises on Camperdown Industrial Estate, Killingworth and depot in Penrith. Recruitment and training will continue to be an important feature for the business moving forwards.
Mark said: “We fully recognise we have to invest to maintain high levels of service for our customers while also offering a great quality range of products from a world leader like Toyota.
“Our growing fleet of fork lift trucks means we can be more flexible as a business and can respond promptly to customer demand, whether that’s ongoing growth or a spike in business.”
Permatts products include a range of electric, gas and diesel machines from one to forty five tonne that can handle a range of diverse products from fruit and veg, automotive parts, animal feeds and engineered steel.
Established in 1981, Permatt has longstanding business relationships with a broad range of customers across the region, supplying specialist trucks, spare parts, maintenance and operator training.