Haith, the UK’s leading designer and manufacturer of vegetable handling equipment, has made two new appointments, adding youth and experience to its team.
Thomas Dixon 33 has joined as a mechanical engineer, with Herbie Kemp (23) returning to the company after graduating from university following a year-long industry placement during his degree.
After four years with BAE Systems supporting the Royal Air Force, Thomas joined Textron Aviation Doncaster as an aircraft mechanic last year, but with the global downturn in aviation, he decided to seek a new challenge.
As a mechanical engineer, Thomas will be involved in the assembly of Haith’s vegetable handling machines and use his skills learnt in the aviation sector to ensure the company’s high standards and quality assurance is maintained.
“It might be a different industry to what I’ve worked in before, but the importance of maintaining the highest standards, attention to detail and meeting deadlines are the same. I’m looking forward to putting my engineering knowledge to use in a new sector and helping Haith continue to produce excellent machines,” he says.
After graduating from Nottingham Trent University with a 2:1 in Product Design BSc, Herbie has returned on a full-time basis as a sales design engineer.
“I really enjoyed my placement here, and I was made to feel very welcome. I learnt a great deal, and it was great that Duane Hill said he would welcome me back if I graduated,” said Herbie. “It is great to be back, and I am enjoying being part of a really busy team, producing 3D models and sales proposal drawings.”
Despite the impact of Coronavirus, Haith has enjoyed a buoyant 2020. Mr Hill is proud to have retained all of the company’s staff throughout the pandemic and even added new people to the business. He believes the new appointments will be a welcome addition to the team.
“Everyone at Haith is working incredibly hard, and we are pleased that we are seeing so much interest in our class-leading range of vegetable handling equipment,” says Mr Hill. “Like lots of companies involved in food production, we’ve seen a significant increase in demand in the last six months and the arrival of Thomas and Herbie will be welcomed by our team. It is great to be able to welcome new people into the business, especially as they bring previous experience of manufacturing which will help them hit the ground running.”
Incorporated as a limited company in 1964, Tickhill Engineering, which trades as Haith has a long tradition of innovating vegetable handling. The company invented the modern barrel washer in 1961, developed the brush roller bed in the 1970s, which was superseded in the ’80s by the Hydro Flow washer. The company introduced the Self Clean washer at the beginning of this century.
To find out more about Haith and its range of vegetable handling equipment, please visit www.haith.co.uk, email sales@haith.co.uk or call 01302 831 911.
