For almost 40 years Berger Closures has been a mainstay in Peterlee, manufacturing clamping rings for the drum barrel market, and more recently ducting closures for ventilation and tubing systems in factories and office buildings.
With a turnover of £3m, employing 18 people from its Doxford Drive production facility and with a relatively new MD, Duncan Hedley, at the helm, East Durham Business editor Leanne Fawcett was keen to find out more.
Until recently Berger Closures was one of those businesses that I knew little about. Yes, I knew of them, and yes, through East Durham Business Network and my own business, LEC, I had tried to engage with them.
But for one reason or another I’d never had any success.
So, when new UK MD Duncan Hedley attended the network’s very first event of 2025 at Ramside Hall Hotel, I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t let slip.
I took the chance to introduce myself and Duncan very kindly agreed to welcome me into his business.
My mission was simple — to get Duncan into the magazine. While very early on he told me it’s not something that comes naturally to him, he was open to getting involved.
During the months that followed, I made several visits to see him to lay the foundations for the relationship I was so keen to nurture.
I wanted to know more about Berger Closures, a business that had for so long been elusive to me. But I also wanted to know about the man appointed to drive the business — who is Duncan Hedley and what are his fresh eyes seeing that will support growth?
Duncan tells me:
“My career started by necessity more than anything. I was young and wanted to earn my own money. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.”
Berger Closures produces stainless steel closures which vary in size from three inches to 28 inches.
The business is now part of the Ringmetall AG group and has facilities in Italy, Spain, Turkey, the USA and China, as well as Germany and the UK. Five hundred people are employed globally.
Now, just over a year into his tenure at Berger Closures, how is Duncan finding things?
“Very different to the automotive industry, that’s for sure.
“It’s a lot steadier in terms of the day-to-day pace, which is not necessarily a bad thing — just different for someone like me who is so used to stress, long hours and tight deadlines.
“But I am enjoying being able to look at the business, still with relatively fresh eyes, and think about what we can do to ensure we remain competitive in the international market. It’s a difficult time for the manufacturing industry but we’re very good at what we do and our customers are loyal, which is great.
“But I know there are changes that we have to make as a business.
“We need to modernise the factory and invest in new machinery, but that’s not cheap so I am working on a business case to secure investment from Europe.
“We also must work more sustainably which is something driven by our customers. However, it’s not as easy as that. Of course we want to be greener — doesn’t everyone — but to do that it’s not cheap.
“I am hopeful though that I can secure the financial backing we need to make the improvements which I think will put Berger Closures in a much stronger position.”
Sitting down and chatting to Duncan, I was also keen to know what makes him tick away from work and what he is looking forward to achieving over the coming months.
“I am a huge Sunderland fan and travel all over to watch them play. I have a season ticket and also get to a good number of away games as well, which I love — especially now we’re back in the Premier League.
“Sunderland is in my blood, though sometimes a bit too much so. Being a Sunderland supporter hasn’t always been easy, so it’s great to see the good times return to the Stadium of Light.
“I also love to travel the country with my wife Sue. A couple of years ago we bought ourselves a camper van and when we holiday in this country we’ll jump in that and drive wherever we fancy. We love it and find it such a good way of switching off from the outside world and seeing parts of the country you maybe wouldn’t if you were staying in hotels.
“One of the things I am keen to do is challenge myself in areas that don’t necessarily come naturally to me. So I will be taking part in a panel event with East Durham Business Network where, along with other panel members, I will talk about the issues facing our industries and answer questions from the audience.
“This is definitely something new for me, but I am looking forward to it and it’ll be good for me to shine the spotlight on our industry and hear from financial and regeneration experts about what the region’s economic landscape looks like.
“It’s definitely a challenging time for the business community but I also think there are signs that things are getting better. Let’s see what this year brings — fingers crossed with Sunderland as the top North East team!”