Erika Marshall
5th December 2017 Automotive manufacturer Nifco UK has seen eight consecutive years of planned and strategic growth, reporting a turnover in the last financial year of £71m and the reason for that growth, quite simply is investment in people.
The Eaglescliffe-based business, which manufactures parts used in the engines, interiors and exteriors of cars produced by BMW Mini, Ford, General Motors, Honda , Jaguar Landrover, Nissan, Renault, Toyota and Vauxhall Opel employs more than 650 people. The vast majority of Nifco team members live within a 5-mile radius of the company – something which was an important factor when the business moved from Yarm Road in Stockton to its current site on Durham Lane back in 2012.
Mike Matthews, Managing Director at Nifco says of his team, “Our people are what make the Nifco engine turn, without them we wouldn’t have become the business we are today so it is only right and fair that we look after the well-being of our team.”
Nifco prides itself on offering a comprehensive package of well-being initiatives to support its team members, such as connecting colleagues with important services such as access to occupational health professionals – including physio, hearing and sight checks, a number of health and fitness activities via colleague-arranged programmes and since 2016 access to local credit union to encourage sensible saving and borrowing.
Mike adds, “In addition to the softer well-being programmes, we have invested for many years in training and development so that our people can progress – to the benefit of themselves and the business. Although, despite this heavy investment, we are still impacted by skills shortages. In summary, we want our people to feel happy, supported and confident that we care about their well-being, this is probably the biggest reason we have such a low turnover of staff here at Nifco UK.”