He started his career 12 years ago on a Teesside bridge revamp – but now “absolutely elated” Ryan Gibson is celebrating his firm winning the Newcomer of the Year title.
Dart Industrial Services, which specialises in surface preparation and protective coatings application, only moved to Aycliffe from Teesside in early 2024.
Aycliffe was strategically chosen because it’s halfway between MD Ryan’s home in Spennymoor and operations director John Featham’s in Stockton.
And, says Ryan, the move has worked brilliantly.
“We moved to Station Place, which is one of the newer parts of the estate, and the facilities are fantastic and the location is great – we’ve found it brilliant,” said Ryan, pictured receiving the award from Husqvarna manufacturing manager Dan Wilkinson.
“The support from even our little part of the industrial estate and the friendliness of it has been amazing – we couldn’t ask for a better place to work.”
Ryan said he first met John 12 years ago when he was an 18-year-old beginning a scholarship as a trainee project manager on a big refurbishment of the Newport Bridge between Stockton and Middlesbrough and John was operation manager.
He said: “We met on my first day on site and 12 years later we’re here now, picking up an award – it’s amazing really.
“To start with, we argued like hell! It’s a bit of a father-son relationship with the age gap between us, but I couldn’t ask for a better guy to do this with.
“When I started the business, we went out, sought investment and did a bit of a Dragons’ Den pitch. I phoned John, told him I had the funding, gifted him some shares and the way things are going, I couldn’t be happier to give back to him – I can’t thank him enough.”
Ryan, who said he was “made up” to win the award, especially as most of the management team was also present, added: “There’s been so much hard work put into getting the business off the ground from a complete standing start.
“And from moving to Aycliffe just over a year ago to winning this – we’re all elated.”
But what’s to come? He smiled: “Big things, really. We’ve been officially trading two years next month and we’ve seen 100% growth two years in a row.
“Hopefully we’ll top that with 125% growth this year and tip over 50 staff which, in 27 or 28 months’ trading, is pretty good going.”
Dart Industrial Services edged Metrick Consultancy and Auckland Innovations to the Newcomer of the Year trophy at the 2025 Make Your Mark Awards, held in association with Senstronics at Hardwick Hall in front of 300 guests.