Sylatech wins long term radar contract with defence contractor

Sylatech, which is based in Kirkbymoorside in North Yorkshire, is gearing up for a period of significant growth as concerns grow about global security.

Sylatech, which employs 115 staff, operates across the aerospace, defence, medical, automotive and construction sectors.

Sylatech’s managing director, Charlie Breese, said: “As a strategic supplier to our customer, we have proudly supported their antenna and microwave assembly requirements for more than 25 years.

“Our microwave design, manufacturing and testing capability provides a strong customer fit, while our reputation in the sector continues to strengthen.

“Sylatech is currently enjoying rapid growth, with help from several of our international prime customers, and we are on track to achieve double-digit growth this year. We anticipate this rate of growth to continue over the coming five years.

“Given the increasing demand for our manufacturing output, we are currently recruiting additional skilled engineering and production staff to work at our manufacturing facility in Kirkbymoorside.”

The company hopes to hire an extra 25 to 30 staff over next two to three years to help it cope with the rapid expansion of its workload. Sylatech secured a £1m contract in the Netherlands last week, which will stretch over 18 months. It also expects to secure other contracts worth £1.5m next week.

The company’s turnover is expected to rise from £6m to a projected £7.4m in the financial year ending March 31 2018.

A spokesman confirmed that global tensions, including concerns about the activities of states such as North Korea, is likely to lead to an increase in defence-related work.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump warned that he is considering “some pretty severe things” in response to North Korea’s unprecedented launch of a missile capable of reaching the US.

Sylatech was founded in 1964 as Micro Metalsmiths by the former managing director, Christopher Shaw.

It is an established supplier for the UK defence sector, which generates an estimated £22.1bn per year for the UK economy. Sylatech regularly supplies critical components to a number of major defence programmes, and it has contracted directly with national defence bodies in the UK, US and Europe. Over the years, it has formed partnerships with Airbus, BAE, SAAB, Thales, and Cobham.

It has also worked in partnership with The University of York in the development of a cancer detection system.

The company supports a range of clients in the medical sector, including Smiths Medical, De Soutter Medical and Moller-Wedel. Sylatech manufactures components used in products such as syringe pumps, operating microscopes and bionic hands.

Sylatech also has links with the space sector, which it describes as an area of major growth for the business.

Working closely with Airbus, it recently delivered product for the SES12 satellite, and also INET/ONET devices for the Ku/Ka-band MPAs on the Eutelsat 172B satellite.

Sylatech’s systems are designed into many space programmes globally.

The Kirkbymoorside-based business also delivers radio frequency microwave systems and investment casting services. Its customer base covers all tiers of the manufacturing supply chain.