Ripon firm expands north to help Scotland cope with winter

Ripon company Econ Engineering has launched a new Scottish company to service gritters and other vehicles for Scotland’s highways contractors and 32 local authorities.

With an initial workforce of six, Econ Scotland plans to make further appointments over the coming months. The new venture represents a £1.3m investment by Econ Engineering and will be based in a new purpose-built service hub in Alloa, near Stirling.

Econ has hired out 117 Econ winter maintenance vehicles to 14 Scottish councils and two major contractors this autumn in preparation for the winter weather conditions.

Econ operations director Jonathan Lupton said: “We are firmly committed to Scotland, which already accounts for over 30 per cent of Econ’s turnover, and with the launch of our Alloa operation we will be able to provide even better service levels and rapid turnaround times for our Scottish customers.

“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.”

Econ, which employs 240 people in Ripon, celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.