MEDICAL device and specialist shoemaker Peacocks Medical Group is looking to grow its £10m turnover after renewing two major NHS contracts worth £5m.
The family-owned firm, which for almost a century has been producing equipment such as leg braces and bespoke shoes for people such as diabetics who have lost the sensation in their feet, has renewed its contract with Airedale Hospital in Yorkshire and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead.
The Newcastle-based firm has also secured £3m in European funding for a collaborative project with its continental partners to develop innovative foot orthotics.
Tom Kelly, quality assurance manager at Peacocks, said: “The business has been performing well in recent months and retaining a number of large contracts that were put out to tender".
“The two recent NHS contract wins equate to significant sums of money to us and all of our national competitors were in for the same contracts. We had the advantage that we were already known and our prices were right".
“We always build on our turnover every year, which we’re pleased about, but the nature of the NHS beast is to keep prices level or drive them down. This means they’re chopping and changing contractors all the time and we’re all in a constant state of flux".
“We’re looking forward to working with our European partners to develop the next generation of foot orthotics. The £3m funding has allowed for the purchase of new equipment and the management cost of the entire project.”
Peacocks has also enlisted the help of Gateshead-based Access Training to support nine of its staff through a range of training in customer service, team leading and manufacturing to support the business boost.
Its training programmes include short courses, NVQs (2-5) and apprenticeships.
Employees Jordan Thompson, Gina Wade, Giovani Camillo, Sam Smith and Michelle Halford are working towards customer service NVQs. Karen Ferguson, Craig Dixon and Jason Raffaele are training to be team leaders and David Binns is doing management training. Kelly said: “We are constantly evolving and developing the way we do business and we know from experience that people development needs to go hand-in-hand with that.
“We can’t stay on top and retain and win major contracts unless our employees are trained to the highest standards.”
Peacocks, which is run by Chris Peacock, whose family have owned and operated the business for over a century, employs 140 people at its Benfield base.
Initially set up as cutlery manufacturer, Peacocks moved into the medical supply market to service the needs of survivors returning home from the trenches after the First World War.