As the North East’s largest independent electrical wholesaler with a near £20 million turnover, Park Electrical Distributors has signalled its intention for further growth with the opening of a Durham branch.
Located in Durhamgate Enterprise City Industrial Estate, the branch is the fifth in the region alongside Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Gateshead and Newcastle. The company employs 70 people across the North East, including a range of apprentices.
The manager is Stephen Pinny, who has transferred from the Sunderland branch.
38-year-old Stephen from Brandon, said: “This is an exciting development for both myself and the company. I have a wealth of wholesale experience behind me having previously worked as branch assistant in the Sunderland office for nearly eight years.
“I have been in discussion with our managing director, Barry Wilkinson, for some time. We are both from the Durham area and it was a natural choice. I wanted to progress my career with the company and I have a lot of contacts that I am eager to develop. I will be managing a team of five and looking to expand quickly, creating jobs and business opportunities within the region.”
In addition to its role as a wholesaler, Park, which was established in 1990, has specialist divisions – lighting design, energy solutions, building technologies and industrial services – that deliver bespoke solutions to generate significant long term energy savings for end-user companies that is also proven to increase productivity and raise staff morale. Environmental stewardship is high on the company’s priority and this is achieved by focusing on Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology that significantly reduces carbon footprint.
Managing director, Barry Wilkinson, said: “We had wanted to open a Durham branch for a number of years but the timing had to be right. Stephen has the knowledge and experience to lead his team and develop the sales and warehousing aspect of the branch.
“Durhamgate is the right location for us, it is only 3.5 miles from the A1M at Durham, enabling easy access to build even stronger relationships with building and electrical contractors and heighten our profile amongst end-user companies and organisations operating in the region’s public and private sectors.
“In addition to our role as a wholesaler, we can offer both trade customers and end users a truly value added service via our lighting design division. It is testament to the team that we are able to open a fifth branch and that we continue to offer our clients bespoke solutions that keep us at the forefront of sector activity.”