A leading tech firm which supplies components and subsystems to space, aerospace, defence and telecoms is the first tenant to sign up for a new unit in a growing County Durham science park.
Filtronic will move into custom-built headquarters within the £100million Phase 3 extension to the North East Technology Park (NETPark) at Sedgefield in 2025.
An existing tenant of the park, the award-winning manufacturer’s new facility will more than double its operational footprint.
The move will further strengthen the firm’s capabilities and increase capacity, while enhancing its cleanroom facilities, engineering laboratories and testing facilities.
It comes at a time when the firm’s growth has been boosted by deals struck with Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, for the supply of critical RF subsystems for low Earth orbit satellites.
Michael Tyerman, chief financial officer at Filtronic, said: “We opted to stay at NETPark due to its modern infrastructure, the presence of innovative and like-minded companies, and the flexibility it provides for scaling our operations.
“The new facility expands our manufacturing and office space as well as upgrading test facilities. It will support the continued development of our leading-edge products and enable us to scale capacity to meet growing customer demand.
“This commitment to innovation was recognised earlier this year when we were honoured with the King’s Award for Innovation, making us one of the few businesses in the UK to hold both the King’s and the Queen’s Award simultaneously.
“It was also a core reason why SpaceX entered into a strategic partnership with us in April of this year, which includes the ongoing supply of E-band solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs), alongside collaborative efforts in developing and delivering comparable products across multiple frequency bands core to SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.”
Cllr Amanda Hopgood, Leader of Durham County Council, added: “Filtronic is one of a number of world-class companies we have at NETPark, and its success story really encapsulates what NETPark is all about.
“It came to NETPark as part of a company expansion in 2014, starting in a small incubator space and going from strength to strength ever since. Here we are 10 years on, with the company having had a spectacular five months during which it has secured £30million of orders from Elon Musk’s SpaceX for RF subsystems for its Starlink platform as part of an ongoing strategic partnership.
“To think there will be critical products travelling through space that were made in County Durham is pretty mind-blowing really and it’s something we should be incredibly proud of.”
