Services & Products
Lift services in Stockton-On-Tees, Sunderland, Durham and Northallerton
We’re continuing our regional focuses in 2026 and kicked off the new year by showcasing our North East team.
Our lift engineers service, repair and install lifts from North Yorkshire to the Scottish Borders.
Rob joined Pickerings in 1989 as an Electrical Apprentice, working many years in our Stockton-On-Tees factory fabricating all parts of our lifts. He literally knows lifts inside out!
In 2015, he moved over to our North East office, applying his vast knowledge to the role of Repairs Manager before progressing to Regional Manager. He loves applying his 35+ years of experience and working with his team to ensure lifts remain in action across the region.
Rob used to drive rally cars in his younger days and now acts as pit crew for his kart-racing son who competes in the National Kart Cup, as well as supporting his daughter at dance competitions.
Pirouettes, pole positions and pre-planned maintenance, Rob does it all!
During a lift refurbishment at a residential block in Sunderland, we replaced one of our own Pickerings traction motors from the 1960s, that was still working!
Although our original motor was still in service 60 years later, testament to the quality of our products, we replaced it with a modern gearless machine offering more energy efficiency and reliability.
We also upgraded the lift controller to a Shorts PB4 and completed a full rewire and rerope, providing a safer and more effective set up.
It was a challenging job, not only because the control room was essentially a cramped cupboard on the rooftop, so it was satisfying to get it over the line and our customer was very happy with the finished product.
From flower power and Beatlemania to Fortnite power-ups and Taylor Swift Fever you can rely on Pickerings through the decades.
As part of our monthly focus, we joined our North East team’s Toolbox Talk.
These meetings are held every month for all 15 of our regional teams to discuss important safety topics, key issues, best practices and provide the opportunity to have a general catch up with colleagues and managers.
The team shared winter driving advice, discussed a few operational points to best support our customers and celebrated some recent successes.
We also may or may not have enjoyed a breakfast bun in the process!
As an NVQ4 Technician who used to run his own lift business, Pickerings is delighted to have recently welcomed Keith to our North East team as Operations Manager.
Having worked as a part-time car mechanic whilst still at school, Keith has always had a fascination with how things work and found himself first joining the lift industry in 2005. With no prior experience of lifts, Keith is a proactive learner and was soon a fully-qualified technician with the confidence and capability to start his own business.
Keith collaborated with Pickerings during this time and knew joining “the good people” at Pickerings was the right choice.
Adaptable and quick to learn, Keith is also an accomplished musician, playing guitar, bass, drums and a host of other instruments.
Whether it’s hydraulics, traction, strings or percussion, Keith will play an instrumental role in making sure your lift stays in tune.
It’s rare that we come across sites with a longer history than our own 170+ years but the Crossgate Centre in Durham, whose lifts we maintain, dates back to 1837.
It was originally built as a union workhouse where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. It later became a hospital and now the surviving buildings have been separated out for different uses, of which the Crossgate Centre features offices and a dentist practice.
Their original lift from the 1960s was a Pickerings Lift and has since undergone modernisation and refurbishment work.
We’re proud to work with clients who have such rich histories as ourselves.
With an Apprenticeship in Business Administration (and also Hairdressing and Beauty) Crista joined Pickerings in 2007 as a Receptionist and Post Lady.
Having worked in our Accounts and Key Accounts departments before moving to our North East Office, she brings a great understanding of the business and knows exactly who to speak to, to get the job done!
As Repairs Manager, she really enjoys the fast-paced busy days, working through the ups and downs of keeping customers moving
She loves spending time with her family and enjoying a well-earned holiday in the sun.
Apprentice Lift Engineer Ryan is hoping to follow after the six other members of our North East team who also started out as apprentices at Pickerings and are now enjoying their careers with us as fully-qualified engineers.
We met Ryan, alongside Lift Engineer Steve, who originally joined us as one of those apprentices, on a repair job in Northallerton.
Ryan is studying for his NVQ 3 in Lift and Escalator Engineering with L.I.T.S. Limited. One day a month he completes online training courses and the rest of the time he joins one of our qualified engineers gaining practical knowledge and experience, working on live lifts. Like he did on this day with Steve…
The pair were visiting a homeless charity to fix an interior panel of their disabled access lift that had been damaged due to wear and tear. They expertly removed the existing panel and made adaptations to the new one before installing it and completing an efficient repair.
Ryan loves going to different places and getting hands-on experience with only limited ‘classroom learning’ required. We look forward to seeing him complete his studies and hope he can enjoy a long and fulfilling career with us at Pickerings, as many previous apprentices have done before.
Lift services across Taunton, Devizes, Wiltshire, Bournemouth and Bristol
