“HJCE is a great business with a strong client base and ambitions to secure sustainable growth. I’m looking forward to working with managing director Andrew Fairburn and the team of directors to help it achieve its goals, using my experience to develop a business strategy that will support the company towards achieving even stronger revenue growth in the next five years.” – Chris Paddey, who has been appointed as a strategic business adviser to HJCE, which aims to expand operations and double current revenues within the next three to five years.

Chris, who previously established and built-up energy engineering consultancy PADD Energy before selling it in a multi-million-pound deal in 2025, will help formulate a strategy that will see the practice become one of the fastest growing and most dynamic independent engineering firms in the North of England by 2030, worth in excess of £5M.

Working closely with the team of directors and bringing extensive expertise in building teams for large engineering companies across the UK, he will help to shape the focus of HJCE’s path to growth, covering new business development, asset management and recruitment, succession planning, and company branding among other strategic operations.

MD Andrew Fairburn said: “We are delighted to welcome Chris’s involvement and look forward to him playing an important role in the continued success and development of the business. His business approach is very much aligned with our own and will have a big impact as he shares his strategic knowledge, experience, and insights.”