Hartlepool-based JJ Hardy & Sons, a precision engineering firm that can trace its roots back to 1856 and employs 20 people at its Brenda Road facility, has invested £260,000 in a ‘state of the art’ machining centre.

The new machine will boost efficiencies and reduce production times at the factory, which makes precision-engineered parts for the automotive, rail and energy sectors — and it has already helped the firm to win an additional contract from an existing customer (www.jjhardy.co.uk.

Managing director Andrew Pailor said: “Thanks to this investment, we can increase the efficiency of our manufacturing and free up revenue to invest back into our people.

“Winning the new contract is a real boost for the business, and I’m very proud that we’re able to safeguard the jobs of some of our employees as a result of this.”

The company bought the machining centre during a recent visit to long-time supplier DMG Mori in Japan. The two firms began working together 40 years ago, when Andrew Pailor’s father bought JJ Hardy’s first DMG Mori machine.