Hyde Aero Products part of £22.5m industry collaboration to reduce CO2 footprint and aircraft time-to-market

Hyde Aero Products is delighted to be able to share the news of its involvement with the I-Break project, (Landing Gear Industrial Breakthrough). 

Hyde Aero Products is part of the £22.5m collaboration between 16 partners from industry leaders to small businesses, academics and research organisations.  It will, for the first time develop and manufacture major landing gear structural components, currently produced using large forgings, with innovative techniques such as powder hot isostatic pressing, additive manufacture and composite, in order to reduce the aircraft time to market and reduce industrial CO2 footprint by 30%.

Miyah Warden - Apprenticeship Award winner !

We’re very proud of Miyah Warden, CNC machinist at Victoria Production Engineering, our specialist supplier of precision turned and milled components.  At the recent Apprenticeship Awards evening held by Tameside College, Miyah was presented with an award for her development of new working practices and achievements in the business.  Her input into the company’s expanded Airbus thread rolling approval was highlighted by the judges in particular.

Miyah also took part in a Q&A session around the benefits of apprentice schemes with students at the Great Academy Ashton.  With Miyah as an ambassador for both apprenticeships and for working with the Hyde Group, we’re sure many of those students in the Q&A audience will be encouraged to join us and help shape the future of the business.

We continue to receive fantastic service from Tameside College, who have a deep understanding of our business. Alongside on-the-job training in a paid role, apprentices spend at least 20% of their working hours completing classroom-based learning with a college, university or training provider which leads to a nationally recognised qualification. 

Apprenticeships can help individuals develop the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career and help us create a talented workforce that is equipped with skills for the future.  If you’re interested in future apprentice opportunities with Hyde Group, please contact our HR department at careers@hydegroup.com.

Hyde Aero Products invests in large scale energy efficiency project

Installation of photovoltaic cells at Hyde Aero Products’ HQ in east Manchester

As part of the drive to reduce their carbon footprint, Hyde Aero Products has recently installed solar panels at their east Manchester HQ. 

The 350 KWp solar photovoltaic system installed by Energy Gain UK Limited at Hyde Aero Products’ HQ will produce an average of 270,200 units of electricity per year and up to 6.3m units over the next 25 years, the equivalent of powering over 1,500 homes for one year. 

The energy efficiency project will off-set over 1,300 tonnes of CO2 over the next 25 years, the equivalent of the emissions from driving around the Earth nearly 200 times in a diesel car.

Matthew Smallman, Joint Divisional Managing Director of Hyde Aero Products commented: “Embracing sustainability has been a long-term strategy for us, so the installation of these solar panels has been something we’ve planned for a while.  In conjunction with other environmental programmes such as improving the energy efficiency of our machines, replacing lighting with more energy-efficient solutions and moving our vehicle fleet over to electric-power, we’re committed to championing sustainability to help mitigate climate change not only on a global scale but also on a local one.”

Other businesses within the Hyde Group of companies are following Hyde Aero Products’ lead by working with Energy Gain UK to install solar panel systems at their sites too.

Craig Jones, Energy Gain UK Managing Director commented “We’re proud to be working with such a prestigious organisation.  The commitment Hyde Aero Products has shown to the environment is fantastic, not just for today, but for generations to come.  Hopefully this project encourages other businesses to consider energy efficiency projects in order to reduce their energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint.”

SC21 Operational Excellence Silver & Bronze awarded at Advanced Engineering Show 2022

Great to see Hyde Details and Hyde Details (Fabrications & Welding) receive their SC21 Operational Excellence awards in person at the ADS Supply Chain Solutions for Excellence event at the Advanced Engineering 2022 show.  Hyde Details were awarded Silver, whilst Hyde Details (Fabrications & Welding) were awarded Bronze for the second year running.

(L to R): Colin Hart, ADS Group’s Head of SC21 Programmes, Hyde Details’ Operations Director Andrew Harding, Hyde Details’ (Fabrications & Welding) Business Development Director Ben McLaverty, Hyde Details’ Commercial Director Steven Brown, and Hyde Aero Products’ Continuous Improvement Manager Anthony Williams.

Our Continuous Improvement journey with SC21 Operational Excellence started in 2019 with Hollygate Aircraft Components becoming the first Hyde Group company to achieve the Bronze Award, They were awarded Silver status earlier this year.  In addition, Hyde Aero Products has achieved bronze status along with four other companies in the division: Hyde Coatings, Hyde Precision Components and Stoneswood Precision Components.

We wouldn’t have been able to achieve these awards without the support of our staff and their commitment to the Continuous Improvement journey. Special thanks also go to our colleagues at Leonardo for acting as our sponsors.

SG Equipment - specialists in the design and manufacture of aerospace and avionics Ground Support technology

Established in 1988, SG Equipment (SGE), was created by the Hyde Group in response to the demand for a national specialist in the design and manufacture of aerospace and avionics ground support technology.

Nearly 25 years later, they’re the pre-eminent provider of this type of equipment with all their main capabilities accessible under one roof across an impressive 25,000 sq. ft. facility in Audenshaw, east Manchester

SGE has a fully-furnished machine shop with a range of CNC and conventional machining to support all their milling, turning, fitting and engraving requirements.  Furthermore, they offer a 24/7 support team available for emergency onsite call-outs, having delivered crucial ground-level support in the UK, Italy, Canada, India, Saudi Arabia and Australia in less than 48 hours.

SGE has an extensive array of testing apparatus and are capable of carrying out pneumatic pressure testing to 10,000 psi, hydraulic pressure testing to 25,000 psi and electromagnetic compatibility testing. They use helium as a search gas across their vacuum leak detection test facilities and have personnel trained in CE marking of equipment. To complement these testing capabilities, SGE also offer ultrasonic cleaning using aqueous fluids to BAE Systems’ aircraft oxygen standard.

Additionally, SGE encompasses a state-of-the-art design suite.  Employing leading 3D modelling and stress analysis software, their design team can take even the vaguest customer problem and produce a viable, technically acceptable and quality-assured solution.  Moreover, the design department provides a project management role, overseeing, monitoring and controlling all work from the initial design stage through to manufacturing.

The company has a national reputation for their work in the electrical and electronic sectors., designing, manufacturing, testing and installing a broad scope of electrical and electronic ground test and support equipment. Utilising LabVIEW software they’ve developed many complex programmes that control equipment for blue chip clients across the globe.

Some equipment they supply requires annual servicing and calibration and the SGE team provides this at either the customer’s site or their own Manchester facility. They are also ATEX certified, so are qualified to work with equipment to be used in an explosive atmosphere.

Finally, SGE offers extensive commercial sewing capabilities. Despite the high demand for quality sewing providers, they are becoming increasingly challenging to locate. SGE’s commercial sewing department takes pride in this, practising the maxim ‘a difficult to find service we make easy to access’.

SGE’s highly specialised commercial sewing facility provides the design and manufacture of fully-approved aerospace soft covers, webbing and straps, all produced to the most exacting AID specifications, including UK MOD standards. Examples of the soft cover and specialist fabric products manufactured are strapping, webbing, bespoke equipment covers, full aircraft covers, pipe lagging, debris guards, banners and pennants, sensitive apparatus protection and bungs.

The ongoing recruitment of new employees is one of the challenges facing the wider engineering industry and SGE is committed to maintaining working with local apprenticeship schemes. The Hyde Group is particularly proud of winning Tameside College’s Apprenticeship Employer of the Year Award 2022.

“2022 is going to be another highly successful year for us and we’re confident we can continue to grow the business through 2023 and beyond”, states SGE’s Managing Director, Andrew Dobson. “We’re keen to speak to potential clients about building future trading relationships and we expect a prosperous and sustainable future for all of us at SG Equipment.”

Hyde Details (Fabrications & Welding) secures 24-month extension (with Merit), for Nadcap Non-Destructive testing

Another great vote of confidence!  Our specialist in-house fabrication and welding services supplier, Hyde Details (Fabrications & Welding), has just secured a 24 month extension (with Merit), for their Nadcap Non-Destructive testing accreditation, demonstrating the effectiveness of their quality processes for qualification/certification, process controls, calibration of equipment, system performance and hardware testing.  An excellent result for the entire team there.

 

SC21 Operational Excellence Silver & Bronze awarded at Farnborough Airshow

Great to see Hollygate Aircraft Components and Hyde Details (Fabrications & Welding) receiving their SC21 Operational Excellence awards in person at the Farnborough Airshow recently.

Left to right are Christopher Thomson from our sponsors Leonardo, Julian Morris, Operations Director at Hollygate, Darren Richardson MD at Hollygate and Martin Pitman from Leonardo

Ben McLaverty, Business Development Director at Hyde Details (Fabrications & Welding) holding the award, flanked by Martin and Christopher from Leonardo

Our Continuous Improvement journey with SC21 Operational Excellence started in 2019 with Hollygate Aircraft Components becoming the first Hyde Group company to achieve the Bronze Award, leading to it now being the first to achieve the Silver category.

In addition to achieving bronze status at the divisional level ourselves, four other companies in the Hyde Aero Products’ division have also attained bronze: Hyde Coatings, Hyde Details, Hyde Precision Components and Stoneswood Precision Components.

We wouldn’t have been able to achieve these awards without the support of our staff and their commitment to the Continuous Improvement journey. Special thanks also go to Christopher Thomson, Martin Pitman and their colleagues at Leonardo for acting as our sponsors.

Jonathan Reynolds MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy visits Hyde Group

We’d like to thank Jonathan Reynolds MP for visiting us earlier in August. As the MP for the Tameside districts of Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley, Longdendale and Dukinfield and the Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy, Jonathan met with us to discuss a range of topics.

As one of Tameside’s largest and most successful companies, we were able to discuss our recent investments in the business, as well as our sustainability programmes, including the UN Global Compact. We were particularly proud to highlight our continuing commitment to working with local apprenticeship schemes, culminating in our winning of Tameside College’s Employer of the Year Award 2022.

We look forward to meeting up with Jonathan again soon to update him on our plans and progress.