Banbury food safety company Fortress Technology triples manufacturing capacity on Thorpe Way

Banbury-based Fortress Technology Europe has more than tripled its manufacturing capacity, moving into a new purpose-built industrial facility and EMEA headquarters on Thorpe Way.

Having merged with British checkweighing and x-ray inspection specialist Sparc Systems three years ago, the 30,000 sq./ft (2,800 sq./m) facility, aptly named Stealth House after the company’s flagship food metal detector, marks the next milestone in the company’s growth strategy. Employing nearly 70 food inspection engineering and service specialists, the company builds x-ray, metal detectors and checkweighers used by a number of the largest bakery, snack, dairy, meat, confectionery and ingredient factories that supply supermarkets and retailers throughout Europe and beyond.

Having operated across two sites for close to three years, re-locating into this larger new production facility represents a significant investment by the Group’s Canadian parent company.

President and founder of Fortress Technology Steve Gidman officially opened the EMEA HQ earlier this month.

Touring the new site with Managing Director Phil Brown who started as a sales manager at Fortress Technology when it first launched in Britain, both leaders reflected on the Fortress journey which began just 25 years ago with Gidman building a timber metal detector in his garage. Meeting with the Banbury workforce, Gidman praised the resilience of the UK team during the challenges of the pandemic, citing their proactiveness, collaboration and service ethos as being a key part of the Fortress success story.

Supplying inspection equipment to blue chip food companies as well as start-ups and SME factories, Managing Director Phil Brown said: “This is an exciting time for digital technologies. Especially in the food production market. It’s a petri dish of innovation and opportunities. Speaking from personal experience,  joining a fast growing private company that still has a family ethos at its core is a great way to advance your personal and professional skills and climb the career ladder.”

Chief Operations Officer (COO) Sarah Mahony who helped to oversee the migration to Stealth House is one of many senior managers promoted as Fortress outgrew its previous office space.  Sarah has simultaneously observed a significant shift towards reshoring, resulting in larger inspection projects to collaborate with customers on.

At Stealth House, a new employee workspace is more conducive to collaboration and wellbeing. Additionally, the team spent months designing the modern production floor in the new facility before moving equipment, machinery and people in. The blank canvas meant they could factor in and optimise the process flow, component warehousing, R&D and machine testing.

Commercial Manager Jodie Curry added: “This move represents another exciting chapter in our growth. No inspection company globally is now better placed to navigate the food supply and pricing challenges brought about by the pandemic and now the Ukraine crisis. Ongoing export investments and a steady stream of new sales agents in Scandinavia, central Europe, including Germany and Spain, and the Arab Emirates, reflects the faith the global food sector and industry stakeholders has in the Fortress Technology brand.”