Firm to supply cleaning equipment for navy fleet

8:37am Saturday 10th May 2008

THE Royal Navy fleet will be gleaming thanks to the expertise of a family-owned North-East engineering firm.

Ruck Engineering, based at the Yarm Road Industrial Estate in Darlington, has won the contract to supply the British Naval Fleet, including the auxiliary vessels, with engine-driven cold pressure washers.

The company was invited to bid for the tender after providing hot pressure washers for the British Army, through an MoD contract, for the past three years.

To win the new tender, the company had to design the new machines.

Managing director Simon Ruck, whose father Jim started the company in 1978, said he was "over the moon" with the deal.

The first 20 cleaning machines will be delivered to the fleet soon, with a total of 150 expected to be ordered this year.

Mr Ruck said: "We have sold hundreds of the hot pressure washers, that go around the world, and on the back of that we were asked to tender for the engine driven cold pressure washers for the Navy.

"We developed a machine and won that contract, so they will be going on all our ships. It could be a battleship or an aircraft carrier.

On each ship we expect there to be three or four machines and on an aircraft carrier there could be one per deck.

"They are used for internal pipe cleaning and deck washing.

What the navy has been doing is getting contractors in to clean the ship when they got to a foreign port, so this will preclude that requirement.

Mr Ruck praised his staff, some of whom have been working for the company for 30 years since his father's day.

He said: "Any tender is hard work and we have to put a team of people together to work on it, we have some great staff."

Mr Ruck said that what he and his 15-strong Darlington team had learnt from designing the machines would also benefit their regular customers.

He said: "The demanding specification for all of the equipment has been particularly useful, as we have been able to pass this knowledge onto our local customer base, who have benefited from these experiences."

The company, which started life as Jim Ruck Limited, when the company's main activity was contract cleaning for industry and local authorities, has gone from strength to strength in recent years.

It relocated to its present premises in Kellaw Road from Cockerton in March 2006.

The company's relocation and expansion was aided by grant assistance of £9,000 from Darlington Borough Council, and the new premises were opened by Darlington MP Alan Milburn.

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