Introduction Cicor Hartlepool
Cicor Hartlepool can trace its roots back to 1911 when Stadium was founded as a pioneer of plastic injection moulding.
Stadium Limited was incorporated as a company in England and Wales in 1929 and it quickly became famous for manufacturing motor-cycle helmets and accessories.
Over the years, the company grew and had manufacturing facilities across the country. Stadium built its Hartlepool site in 1985, and the small electronics business moved into its own building adjacent to the injection moulding business in 1989.
The electronic manufacturing business established itself and won business supplying Black & Decker in the Northeast and Sparkrite car alarms which were sold through Halfords.
Stadium’s electronics business continued to thrive, and investment into surface mount technology was made. TT Electronics bought Stadium Group in 2018 and 6 years later, sold to Cicor Group, when the Hartlepool site became part of the wider Cicor community on 1 April 2024.
Cicor Hartlepool is an EMS+ business, with customers in the Automotive, Industrial, Ventilation and IoT markets. The site is going through a massive period of change and has a very healthy pipeline of new products that the team are working hard to deliver,
The change in ownership from TT to Cicor came with some concerns from our colleagues, as you would expect for any big change, but the transition for the team on site has been seamless. Since the formal, public communication of the proposed transaction there has been a high level of communication and engagement, involvement, and interaction to keep all colleagues in the Hartlepool team informed at every stage of the process (pre and post transaction close). The news and change have been met very positively by the whole team and we have had the pleasure of hosting senior colleagues from Cicor in the last few weeks as we move to integrate as quickly as possible.
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England.
The place name derives from Old English wording, referring to stags, and is the symbol of the town with almost 90,000 people.
The town has a long history of shipbuilding, and since the turn of the last century it has seen major investment projects and the redevelopment of the docks area into a marina and the fantastic local football team called Hartlepool United F.C. provides a strong focal point for the local community,
Although the area is heavily industrialised and plays an important part in the country’s petro-chemical industry, there are glorious beaches at the seaside resort of Seaton Carew and a highly regarded RSPB nature reserve at Saltholme.
If you ever visit, some of the things you might want to look out for include: The National Museum of the Royal Navy, the thriving marina, and views from Seaton Carew across the North Sea.
Capability & vision
The factory has a simple vision for 2026:
- To be the supplier of choice for our customers.
- To be the employer of choice within the local area.
- To be operationally excellent in all that we do.
In terms of capability, Cicor Hartlepool has 4 SMT lines, one of which is dedicated to NPI. To complement this, we have through hole capability, box build and full functional test capability.
The site is ISO14001, ISO13485, ISO9001 and IATF16949 accredited and the goal for 2024 is to achieve ISO45001.
People
People are at the heart of what we do in Hartlepool. The safety and the physical and mental well-being of all 130 colleagues is our number one priority, and we are proud of our accident-free history.
All on site have regular briefings in line with their role, to ensure awareness of the requirements of their job, but also of the part every one of us can play as a team in ensuring a safe working place – and space – for all. The site has a record of over 2,200 days without an LTI and carries out cross-functional GEMBA walks every week to ensure we keep on top of our safety observations.
It’s also important to us to gain feedback on how everyone feels about the business. In January, a pulse engagement survey was conducted with 115 out of 124 colleagues offering feedback on 14 key questions. This was an incredible response rate of 93% and the resulting feedback has been developed into both a Site Action Plan and Departmental action plans. The plan has been shared with all on site with updates committed to through our active communication and engagement forums. The SLT will lead on this important activity ensuring we learn from feedback received, continually looking to improve the experience and environment for everybody. The feedback is aligned to “8 Factors of Engagement” ensuring a clear and focused approach to action planning.
Community
The team in Hartlepool have a high concern for the local community, and support of this, with many employees either living in the town or neighbouring counties. The site has a main charity they support, Alice House Hospice, which exists to ensure people affected by a life limiting illness or the death of a loved one have the care, comfort, and support they need.
This holds a special place in the hearts of those on site with many having had experience of family or friends going through end-of-life care including in the Hospice. In the last six months the team has raised over £2,000 through a variety of on-site events and activities. A second charity, RNLI, Hartlepool Branch has recently been voted for by the team with £300 already raised.
The site supports the education and careers of young people in the local community with strong links to the Hartlepool College of Further Education. We are committed to being a supportive, local employer providing opportunities for growth and learning with two colleagues holding roles as Maintenance Apprentices (with continuing studies) and two new team members recently joining for 1-day weekly as part of their studies on T Level Engineering (16–17-year olds’).
Matthew Pemrick - General Manager
As Cicor Hartlepool begins its new start and transitional journey under the Cicor umbrella, so do I! I joined Cicor Hartlepool on 22nd April 2024 and I am excited to be joining the team in Hartlepool and the wider group. It is quite clear to see that the site has undergone significant change over the past year or so, building a healthy pipeline of new business, reaffirming necessary external accreditation status, and building a team ethic and positive culture across the site.
The safety and wellbeing of our employees is at the forefront of everything that we do, and the site is justifiably proud of its current record of over 2,200 days without a lost time accident. The engagement and participation of all employees is key to our success going forward, as we look to solidify the improvements made, and push on further to deliver excellence in quality and delivery to our customers, making ourselves a true, unequivocal supplier of choice.
We are really looking forward to sharing best practice with the other sites within the Cicor family as we target operational, technology and system improvements that will drive the business forward toward any shared goals with group and site-specific targets to enhance the company’s profitability and grow revenue streams further.
In relation to myself and my background, as a professional introduction, I left school at 16 years old and served an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering qualifying as a ‘miller/turner’. After some time working in the factory, I moved into Procurement and Supply Chain to progress my career achieving an MCIPS Diploma and a BA (Hons) in Business studies and Management. I moved through Operations and eventually into Site Leadership roles and have been leading businesses for the last 18 years or so. The majority or my career and all my leadership roles have been spent in the Aerospace industry.
I am married and have 4 children and 2 Grandchildren. My passions other than my family are following Bolton Wanderers Football Club of which I am a season ticket holder and I am also a keen triathlete. I mainly participate in the longer endurance events and have completed 8 full distance Ironman events with Number 9 being over in Austria this June.