Gritter firm creates jobs with seven-figure Scottish investment

A UK firm that manufactures more than 80 per cent of the winter maintenance and repair vehicles used on Britain’s roads has created jobs on the back of a £1.3 million Scottish investment.

The Econ Scotland service hub is based in Alloa. Picture: Contributed

Econ Engineering has launched a new Scottish operation to service gritters and other vehicles for customers across many of Scotland’s local authorities and private sector highways contractors.

With an initial workforce of six staff, Econ Scotland said it plans to make further appointments over the coming months.

The new venture represents a £1.3m investment by Econ Engineering and will be based out of a new purpose-built service hub in Alloa.

Econs Derek Rolfe, Jonathan Lupton, Janice Parlett, Scott Bell at the Scotland service hub. Picture: Contributed

A fleet of 117 Econ winter maintenance vehicles has been deployed on a hire basis to 14 Scottish councils and two major trunk road contractors this autumn in preparation for the winter weather.

Committed

The company employs 240 people at its manufacturing base in Ripon, North Yorkshire.

Econ operations director Jonathan Lupton said: "We are firmly committed to Scotland, which already accounts for over 30 per cent of Econ’s turnover. This £1.3m investment in the new business and our state-of-the-art depot is a huge deal for us as a family-owned firm and signals the importance of Scotland to us as a business."