ZF, the Peterlee-based leader in the production of specialist safety camera equipment for vehicles, has been confirmed as a ‘VIP company’ at this year’s EMCON.

The company is the one of several regional big hitters to be announced, all of which will be taken around to meet exhibitors at the event.

The purpose of the VIP walkarounds is to attract large established OEMs and blue-chip manufacturers which have buying capacity and extensive supply chains.

ZF’s Peterlee facility, which now employs over 1,000 people, is regarded as a centre of excellence in the production of safety camera equipment, which is installed in vehicles across the world to prevent accidents. The company frequently looks for suppliers in the North East.

Robin Finley, Plant Director at ZF, said: “I am delighted to have been invited to the EMCON expo and be given the chance to talk about what we at ZF do.

“It’s a great opportunity to meet regional businesses, some of which may already supply into us and others which could offer products and services that we could benefit from.

“ZF Peterlee is very much committed to sourcing products and recruiting from our local supply and talent pool and I see the EMCON event as the ideal opportunity to do that.”

This year’s EMCON event takes places on Thursday, October 10, at the Xcel Centre in Newton Aycliffe.

Former BAE Systems Managing Director Jim Imrie, who is also a board member with the Engineering and Manufacturing Network (EMN) which runs EMCON, said: “The introduction of the VIP walkarounds at last year’s event were a great success with some of the biggest names in regional manufacturing coming along.

“Having established names like ZF at our event is a huge draw for exhibitors who believe they have an offering which could appeal to them, while for the VIPs it’s a good chance to see first-hand just how thriving our industry is.”

Stadler Rail UK is once again this year’s headline sponsor while Jackson Hogg Recruitment is returning as delivery partner and Business Durham maintains its gold sponsorship status.

Other sponsors include GOM, Horizonworks, Kite Packaging and Lumo Tax, which are silver sponsors, and Lemon Top and E-max Systems, which are bronze sponsors.

For more information on the 2019 event visit emcon.show.