TPi January 2010

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January 2010 Tube Products International 9
news business & market
Gates Corporation acquires
Hydrolink Group
Gates Corporation has announced its acquisition of the Hydrolink Group
of Companies.
Hydrolink is a fluid engineering company focused on the oil and gas markets in
the Middle East and CIS regions, and maintains branches that have engineering
services, inventory and service centres. Since 1988, when Hydrolink first began
operating in the United Arab Emirates, the company has provided customers in
the oil and gas market with a comprehensive range of engineering, fabrication,
testing and service operations for fluid power products in the rapidly developing
Persian Gulf region.
Founded and headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Hydrolink has
expanded to twenty locations in the Middle East and CIS regions. The collective
market size for fluid power products in this region is estimated to be worth
around US$480mn per annum. The acquisition allows Gates to accelerate its
market penetration for fluid power products in these high-growth regions.
Gates Corporation – USA
Hydrolink – United Arab Emirates
•
Recession has taken its
toll on engineering but
is the end in sight?
Sales manager
to build eastern
Europe presence
Radius Systems, a manufacturer
of plastic piping systems for utility
infrastructure applications, is continuing
its expansion drive with the appointment
of Eddy Lewoski as regional sales
manager for eastern Europe.
Mr Lewoski has over 20 years’
experience in export markets for the
industry and, although based in the UK,
will be responsible for growing Radius
Systems’ business in European markets
like Poland, the Ukraine and Russia.
Mr Lewoski’s background incorporates
extensive work on electrofusion and
compression fittings for the gas and
water industries worldwide, as well as
training installation engineers. He has
an advantage when it comes to local
languages, being fluent in Polish, Ger-
man and Spanish, additionally speaking
some French and basic Japanese.
Radius Systems Ltd – UK
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The recession has taken its toll on the
engineering and technology sector, but
the end could be in sight, according
to the Institution of Engineering and
Technology (IET).
The IET’s annual Skills and Demand in
Industry report shows that only 31% of
employers (compared to 63% last year)
are planning to recruit staff over the next
12 months. Of the companies surveyed,
40% said they were concerned about
losing their skills base because of the
recession.
A third of those companies not recruiting
this year named financial constraints as
the primary reason.
However, only 12% thought that this
would be a problem in two to three
years, fuelling speculation that the
recession is coming to an end.
The survey also reveals a reduction
in the recruitment of postgraduates
entering engineering roles (down from
24% to 12%).
This could be an indication that
companies are cutting back on research
and development and not diversifying
their business. As a result, companies
that have notmaintainedR&D investment
may lose out when the economy picks
up.
Nigel Fine, chief executive of the IET,
commented, “Unlike other surveys, ours
is entirely focused on engineering and
technology and gives a clear viewof what
is happening in this sector. The results
show that although financial constraints
are preventing many companies from
recruiting, it appears the situation will
ease over the coming years and that the
end of the recession may be in sight.
In two to three years, when companies
expect financial constraints to have
eased, they once again anticipate a
skills shortage in the engineering and
technology profession.
“Retraining and professional
development will beneeded to re-engage
the skilled engineers lost during the
recession. Without a concerted
effort now, it is likely that the UK will
quickly experience a greater shortage
of engineering skills than before the
recession.”
The Skills and Demand in Industry
report can be viewed online, at www.
theiet.org/publicaffairs/education/skills-
survey2009.cfm?type=pdf
The Institution of Engineering and
Technology – UK