Alcan Do It...

A local self employed craftsman is celebrating the successful completion of a job for the manufacturing giant Rio Tinto Alcan in Lynemouth, Northumberland.
Jim Tuck, 57 of Cambois who runs and owns Olde Earth, a model and memorabilia manufacturing company was approached by Rio Tinto Alcan in November to produce 75 bespoke figures for the company. “I was contacted and asked if I could produce them by the end of January and every other manufacturer had said that they couldn’t deliver,” explains Jim. The job Jim was commissioned to complete was a commemorative model to give to staff to celebrate Alcan’s winning of the Manufacturing Excellence Award 2009 and they were thrilled with the results. Jeff Hope, Potroom Manager at Rio Tinto Alcan said “Jim created an award of outstanding design and quality for our recent Manufacturing Excellence presentation. He worked with us and our materials and created a design to be proud of. We would like to thanks him for his attention to detail and relentless determination to release a quality product on time.”

Jim’s talent for modelling and moulding came from his interest in model trains and railways. “I wanted to be able to make my own components and models and that’s basically how it all began.”  
A former miner at Ashington, Jim started making coal models but sold that business 7years ago. “I was working for another company as a paint sprayer

after selling up but was badly injured in an accident at work which left me on the sick for almost 2 years. I couldn’t bear the prospect of never working again so decided to set up Olde Earth in September 2009.”
Bolstered by his work with Alcan and other prominent organisations such as Durham Light Infantry Association where he was asked to produce a large amount of ‘Tommy’ figures in bronze, Jim hopes that his move towards the corporate giftware side of the market will pay off, “I also produce model trains for display which are popular with collectors and are made to a high standard and I only use quality materials such as pewter, bronze and wood – all with a hand-painted finish.”
4 months in to the business and Olde Earth is a success. “I was first able to get set up with the help of Go Wansbeck Flexible funding and had support from Commercial Premises Co-ordinator Luke Dunnett in identifying suitable premises in the area.”