About Us

The Newco building

The Northern Engineering and Welding Company (NEWCo) was originally founded in 1986 and in October 2015 was purchased by AJ Engineering and Construction Services under the leadership of Managing Director Alan James.

Our purpose built and well equipped workshop is home to a team of skilled technicians whose services are facilitated by our in house machine shop – fitted with the leading state of the art machinery. Our production facility encompasses welding (Mig, Tig, MMA), rolling, shearing, punching, bending and plasma profiling facilities. Our machine section includes lathes, milling, slotting and sawing facilities; all of which can be supported by our in-house CAD drawing facilities.

NEWCo are suppliers to a wide range of engineering based industries, in both the large scale industrial sector and private sector.

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Our People

  • Alan James

    Managing Director

    In 1999 Alan set up AJ Engineering & Construction Services Ltd... read more

    Alan started his career in 1970 as an apprentice fabricator welder working at the Forres based company William Reid Engineering. He then progressed into the drawing office and then became involved in project management. He was promoted to Projects Director and for six years he was responsible for a diverse range of projects including work in London at Paddington Station and Canary Wharf. During his time with William Reid he attained an HNC in Mech. Engineering and an MSc in Project Management. In 1999 Alan set up AJ Engineering & Construction Services Ltd, with one other workshop based employee and a rented building on the Greshop Industrial Estate, Forres. The company bought an adjacent site in 2002 and built the fabrication workshop where the company now based. Alan is married to Ainsley who is a teacher and they live in Forres. His daughter Erin and son Robin are both pursuing their own careers in HRM and digital broadcasting.

  • Graham Alexander

    Group General Manager

    Graham has worked with some of the country’s largest civil engineering and building companies including Balfour Beatty read more

    Graham has worked with some of the country’s largest civil engineering and building companies including Balfour Beatty and Galliford Try. Having managed the delivery of varied contracts across the UK, he decided to pursue an opportunity closer to home and joined Scottish Water Solutions as a Senior Project Manager to deliver their major investment programme. Following the completion of this, and other water related projects Graham worked for KBR in Australia managing water related projects there. In early 2014 the opportunity to become General Manager for AJ Engineering drew Graham back to Forres where he has been ensuring AJ Engineering is ready to take on whatever the future brings!

  • Neil Worsdall

    General Manager

    Neil started his career in 1983 as an apprentice fabricator/sheet metal worker read more

    Neil started his career in 1983 as an apprentice fabricator/sheet metal worker with local Fort William firm Nevis Heating & Ventilation. After serving his trade he progressed to workshop foreman and then promoted to Operations Director. During this time he worked closely with British Alcan delivering bespoke engineering projects. Neil left NH&V after 20 years to pursue new challenges with Korrie Mechanical & Plumbing, he spent 10 years there as Area Manager for Lochaber and Lorne before joining Highland Water Works delivering complete hydro schemes on major investment programmes. In early 2017, Neil was delighted to join NEWCo as General manager to share his engineering and project management with the already established and professional team.

  • Willie Lawrie

    Project Manager

    Willie started as a Project Manager with NEWCo in July 2018 read more

    Willie started as a Project Manager with Newco in July 2018. He previously worked with Fion Construction Ltd for 12 years as Director/Contracts Manager. He worked on many civil projects including Roads and Drainage Schemes, Road and Pedestrian Bridges, Utilities Work, Street Lighting Works and various Concrete Structures. Willie graduated in 1990 with B.Eng (Honours) in Civil Engineering and has worked for various contractors throughout Scotland including Morrison Construction , R J Macleod, Tulloch Civil Engineering and others. Projects include Glensanda Quarry, Luss By Pass, Dalkeith By Pass, various Scottish Water Projects including Lochaber Mains Renewal and others.

  • Alan Stewart

    Project Manager

    Alan joined NEWCo's sister company AJ Engineering in 2014 read more

    Alan joined NEWCo's sister company AJ Engineering in 2014 after spending a period of time as a sub-contractor. His experience of roof and wall cladding naturally led him onto the steelwork support. He joined the AJE team as a draughtsman/project manager and after a period of 18 months was seconded to NEWCo as General Manager to assist with the set up of the Fort William venture. Alan used his experience of the construction and fabrication industries to move NEWCo forward and now supports NEWCo general manager Neil Worsdall as a project manager and works between the Fort William site and the Forres HQ.

  • Jazmin Kellas

    HSQE Advisor (ISO 9001 Representative)

    Jazmin started her career in quality management at a private water supplies company where read more

    Jazmin started her career in quality management at a private water supplies company where she implemented an integrated Business Management System incorporating Health, Safety, Environment and Quality. Here she gained her qualifications in ISO Internal Auditing and IOSH Managing Safety. Prior to this Jazmin worked for a financial services company for 6 years where she gained qualifications in Mortgage and Insurance Advice. Jazmin’s role at AJ Engineering has allowed her to expand her skills and further her career development. Since working at AJE, Jazmin has achieved ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor Certification and has assisted the company in their transition to ISO 9001:2015.

  • Liz Flatt

    Accounts Manager

    After having served in the Royal Air Force, Liz was employed in various accounting contracts read more

    After having served in the Royal Air Force, Liz was employed in various accounting contracts for both national and international companies such as Atmel Corporation, Michelin Tyre plc and SSE. Having spent many years living and working in the South of France she added to her financial qualifications and completed a degree in French through the Open University, further enhancing her skills gained over her 26 years of working within management accounting roles. Having returned to the NE of Scotland in 2017 she embraced the role of Accounts Manager with A J Engineering and enjoys the various challenges it brings.

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Latest News

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    The Micron – April

    April 11, 2024

    The latest edition of the company newsletter. 

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    The Micron – March

    March 11, 2024

    The latest edition of the company newsletter.  

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    The Micron – December

    December 7, 2023

    The latest edition of the company newsletter is now available. 

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    The Micron – October edition

    October 3, 2023

    The latest edition of the company newsletter is now available. 

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    Welder forges forward in rugby world cup

    October 3, 2023

    A NEWCo fabricator welder has swapped his boilersuit for his rugby kit to take up a front row position representing

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    Island museum up for award

    July 5, 2023

    The Scapa Flow Museum at Lyness which underwent a £4.4million refurbishment involving teams from both AJE and sister company NEWCo,

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    The Micron – July

    July 5, 2023

    The latest edition of the company newsletter is now available.

    read more

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    Best year for NEWCo biker

    June 1, 2023

    A NEWCo employee who took part in the Scottish Six Day Trial has said he has had his “best year.”

    read more

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    The Micron – June

    June 1, 2023

    The latest edition of the company newsletter. 

    read more

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    Platform access sweeps the region

    May 2, 2023

    Over the last year, the team at NEWCo have designed, fabricated and installed around 10 access platforms to different clients

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