New jobs to be created as Barnsley road tanker manufacturer launches £500k expansion plan

A Barnsley-based road tanker manufacturer is set to expand its operations and create more manufacturing jobs in the town.

Road Tankers Northern, based at Platts Common Industrial Estate in Hoyland, designs, builds, services and inspects road tankers for carrying petroleum and LPG gas.

The has become the dominant supplier of road tankers to the UK bulk liquid haulage industry, securing nearly 75% of the domestic market.

RTN’s customers include most major fuel distribution companies and supermarkets including Shell, Certas, Calor Gas, Morrisons, Sainsburys and Asda.

The company has recently completed an order to supply 133 new tankers to BP. The entire Tesco fleet of semi-trailer tankers is built by RTN too.

The £15m turnover business is now embarking on a period of expansion and aims to create around 15 new jobs within the next year in areas such as design, fabrication, welding, electronics, inspection and administration.

With £500k invested in this current expansion programme, RTN is being supported by Enterprising Barnsley, the economic development arm of Barnsley Council.

Don McKelvie, RTN operations director, said: “We have grown year-on-year since we moved to Barnsley in 1993 and are very proud to be creating more skilled, high-value jobs in manufacturing right now.

“A lot of people just don’t realise that Barnsley is the centre of the UK road tanker manufacturing industry – and it’s not happened here by accident, our growth has been down to sustained investment in plant, premises, workforce and innovation.

“And the support we have had in Barnsley has been excellent. The Enterprising Barnsley team is fully committed to promoting the success of business in the borough and they’ve worked alongside us, in very practical terms, all the way.”

RTN, which currently occupies 75% of the whole Platts Common Industrial Estate, plans to develop six more paint, service and inspection bays later this year. The company also plans to add four to five new vehicles to its UK-wide tank testing and inspection fleet.

Enterprising Barnsley is currently supporting RTN with its recruitment and training drive and has in the past helped the company secure a Leeds City Region grant to help fund a previous expansion.

Steve Hawkins, Enterprising Barnsley business development manager, said: “Road Tankers Northern is a major local success story and continues to grow and create new, skilled engineering jobs in our borough.

“Their strength is their ambition and attitude, combining tried and tested engineering techniques with a constant desire to innovate and improve their product to offer customers more. We’re delighted to help them recruit still more employees and apprentices.”

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