Jobs boost as Swedish engineering firm sets up base in Leeds

The Yorkshire Post can reveal that Novotek, which provides industrial IT and automation systems, is to spend circa £100,000 on the move that will accommodate a doubling of Novotek’s team, and features an innovation lab where customers’ engineering, IT and operations teams will be based.

The Leeds office is Novotek’s second site in the UK and Ireland, with the company’s existing UK headquarters being in Glasgow.

A new team of technical specialists and sales representatives will operate from the new offices. The Yorkshire Post understands there will be five initial positions created with the final staffing level set to be more than dozen.

Tobias Antius, chief executive of the Novotek Group, said: “As we evaluated different locations for our new operation, we were introduced to some of the funding and some of the networking mechanisms LEP could offer.

“We’re delighted at the support Novotek has been given both financially, and in helping to become a well-connected member of the Leeds tech community.”

According to Novotek, the new innovation centre will serve a central role in bringing industrial and utilities companies up to speed on the latest automation, operations management and analytics technologies.

The move was welcomed by Roger Marsh, chair of the Leeds LEP who said: “Our #welcome fund is designed to support innovative digital companies like Novotek to locate in our region.

"This creates the right economic conditions for growth and fuels job creation. I look forward to seeing the company go from strength to strength.”

Headquartered in Sweden, Novotek began its operations in the UK and Ireland by acquiring Kerrco Automation in 2017.

Today, the company works with a wide range of businesses across the UK’s manufacturing, process engineering, power and water utilities sectors.

The company said that its new, facility allows for the practical demonstration of how new technology can deliver significant gains in productivity and reliability to industrial assets and processes.

"It is planned that, in such a sandbox environment, such concepts can be explained, demonstrated and tested in a safe and informative space," it said.

“One of the challenges facing the automation industry is the difficulty that comes from describing and demonstrating digital concepts,” explained George Walker, managing director of Novotek UK and Ireland.

“Without a physical asset, it can be difficult for many engineers and business leaders, who are inclined towards more immediately tangible concepts, to truly visualise how these systems fit together.

“The innovation lab gives us an effective, physical example that customers can use to better understand the value of things like modern SCADA systems, industrial internet of things (IIoT) platforms and manufacturing execution systems (MESs). We want to help British industry modernise and achieve more with digitalisation, and a strong understanding of the opportunities among businesses is crucial in realising this.”