A growing engineering firm is creating more than a dozen new jobs as it gears up for a bumper few years.
Stoke-on-Trent-based Patera Engineering revealed that it had seen its order book almost double since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
And that trend has continued over the last 18 months, with Patera securing an influx of new work – meaning it has a healthy order book until well into 2024.
Now Patera, based in Fenton, is looking to increase its 45-strong workforce by a further 15 in the coming months.
It is currently recruiting for a variety of roles including fabricators, welders, site installers and draughtspersons.
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Production manager Dylan Lees, said: "We have been able to expand our customer base during the pandemic and have managed to win some more work from new and existing customers – our current order book will see us into 2024.
"But we are a company which does not stand still and we are still actively on the look out for new work and bigger projects, and to be able to deliver them we need to recruit."
Dylan added: "Over the last 12 months or so, we have created a versatile working environment and have invested in staff training and development, and that’s something we plan to do more of in 2022."
Project manager Callum Lees said: "It has been hard with covid and having to navigate all of the various restrictions, but we are coming out of it and we’re still here.
"We've got a really good team in place now, and the attitude of all of our staff throughout the pandemic has been brilliant. They are the reason we have been able to carry on as a business and continue to win new customers and new work."
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Established in 1988, Patera Engineering specialises in the design, manufacture and installation of bespoke steel structures for major projects across the UK in places such as prisons, hospitals and airports.
It is currently working on a major scheme at Astra Zeneca's global headquarters in Cambridge and, closer to home, has contributed to the remodelled Joiners Square roundabout which reopened in the summer.
Callum said: "We are looking ahead and beyond 2022 now and we are pretty confident about the future.
"We have a healthy order book into 2023/24 but now we want to build that and keep the momentum going."
