A SOUTH Korean businessman who has adopted the North-East as his home is seeing his specialist worktop business expand after winning contracts to supply Heathrow Airport, London Underground and the NHS.

Howard Noh runs Stocktonbased Staron UK and has the exclusive rights to import and distribute Staron Solid Surfaces across the UK and Ireland.

The products are used for check-in and ticket desks, cafeteria surfaces, kitchen worktops and shower cubicles.

Because of a strong order book and a £150,000 investment from UK Steel Enterprise, which has enabled the business to buy the latest machinery, Mr Noh, who moved to the region 18 years ago, is looking to recruit five people to join his workforce of ten.

Mr Noh, who was a senior operations manager at Samsung’s Billingham plant for 12 years before creating Staron UK, said the product – developed in South Korea by his former employer – is proving popular with major clients.

“Joins or crevices are places where bacteria can grow and infections spread, so our fullymoulded product is proving attractive to NHS trusts up and down the country,” he said.

“The material also has the highest possible rating in terms of its fire resistant qualities, making it very appealing to organisations like London Underground who have to conform to strict health and safety regulations.

“In many ways, it is harder running a business here than it would be in South Korea – there is more competition and much more pressure to price goods competitively, but Stockton is my home now.”

Mr Noh, who also employs his daughter, Sam, in the business, said the investment by UK Steel Enterprise, the Corus-subsidiary that supports growing businesses, has enabled him to look towards growth.

“Not only were we able to purchase the new equipment, we also increased our stock levels at a time when we knew the pound was getting weaker.

“This proved extremely valuable as it reduced the pressure on our raw material costs at a challenging time for import prices,” he said.

Simon Hamilton, UK Steel Enterprise’s regional manager, has worked with Mr Noh during the business’s expansion.

“Howard Noh has identified an excellent product that has multiple uses,” he said.

“As well as its obvious applications in the commercial sector, it can also be used for kitchen worktops both commercially and in the home.

“In the current economic climate it is important that companies have a wide customer base and Staron UK has certainly achieved this. We were happy to help them.”