In order to meet growing demand from our customers, and to improve the working environment for our staff, FT Technologies has moved to a brand new factory and established a new head office in Sunbury-on-Thames, southwest London.

Describing this significant investment in the company’s future, Executive Chairman, Savvas Kapartis, said “The new building, Sunbury House, is four times the size of our old site in Teddington, and has been carefully selected to be suitable not just for present needs, but for the next ten years. It will allow us to grow as a company and invest in new processes, state of the art technology and all the necessary equipment to keep producing innovative products for the wind energy and meteorological industries.”

Commenting on the move Fred Squire, Director of Sales and Marketing, added

“With more space for production, research and development we will be able to increase the volume of wind sensors that we produce, as well as deliver improved quality and shorter lead times.”

“FT had been in Teddington for over 35 years and, over that time, the company had grown from a handful of staff working on defence-based research, to a hi-tech company with 80 employees designing and producing ultrasonic wind sensors. Although we had bought more and more buildings, the Teddington site had little room for further expansion. The acquisition of new premises was seen as paramount to the future success of the company.”

Sunbury House features:

• Office space for 135 staff
• ESD protected, temperature and humidity controlled production facilities
• Separate automated production area for robotics
• A dedicated cleaning room with independent extraction
• Greatly enlarged R/D laboratory
• Robotic and automated production laboratory

We will also be adding:

• Two temperature controlled closed loop calibration-grade wind tunnels with a maximum air speed of 220mph, equipped with robotic loaders supplied from conveyor belts.
• Two process rooms with independent temperature and humidity control, equipped with robots supplied from conveyor belts.
• Automated assembly and inspection equipment.
• Automated industrial computed tomography (CT) scanners.
• Environmental laboratory with temperature, humidity, altitude chambers, a HALT chamber, corrosion and UV chambers, electrodynamic shaker, rain simulator.

Staff feedback on the move has been positive.

“We have already noticed improved communication and a general feeling of enthusiasm and collaboration. With the move complete, we look forward to a period of active recruitment, training and staff development. Our new offices are light, airy and spacious. We have quiet pods, height-adjustable desks, kitchen facilities, coffee bars, state-of-the art meeting and training rooms and numerous informal breakout spaces. With flexible working hours on offer, and an informal dress-code, I think we have created a vastly improved environment for our existing staff, and a place where top talent will want to come and work.”

Esther Hammond, Head of HR

Located in Sunbury, just off the M3, Sunbury House is easily accessible from both central London and a wide area to the southwest. Just across the road, Upper Halliford station is on a direct line from Waterloo. There is a huge car park, and for cyclists there is a secure cycle enclosure, showers, lockers and even a heated drying room.