The relationship between Castle Group Managing Director Simon Bull and Made Smarter Business Relationship Manager Mike Pennington has evolved into a multi-year partnership transforming both commercial performance and regional STEM engagement.

Founded in 1971, Castle Group has specialised in measurement, monitoring and assessment in industry with a focus on health and safety compliance, environmental assessment and machinery condition monitoring.

The first project in April 2023 supported by the Made Smarter programme was a vibration sensor calibration and test system to allow Castle to greatly improve its ability to accurately assess accelerometers and other vibration sensors to help with customer calibrations and product development.

Following an in-depth digital review through road mapping, this project has led to quicker time to development as well as direct sales in customer calibrations and much improved productivity all round.

On a similar but related theme also support by the Made Smarter programme, the following project saw the design and prototyping of a novel testing system for in-house product verification and new product design checks. This was another successful project and has increased productivity and design implementation for new products.

The most recent application, and still one under way is the development of a new software platform to better integrate some of Castle’s products into a windows environment to supplement their cloud-based system. This project was part funded using the North Yorkshire Shared Prosperity fund back in November 2024.

Simon Bull, Castle Group Managing Director, said:

“For an SME operating in North Yorkshire, and especially one that is trying to develop new technology, the support from Made Smarter has made a huge difference in the ability to embark on new projects and to bring forward ideas that would otherwise require time to generate funding from business cashflow. This has led to an improvement in productivity and a huge reduction in time to market.”

Alongside commercial outcomes, the partnership has also delivered meaningful community impact through STEM engagement. Alongside his role at Castle Group, Simon Bull chairs the Scarborough Business Ambassadors, working closely with Made Smarter to support STEM-focused initiatives.

This includes sponsorship of Scarborough STEM Week, held each October at Scarborough Spa. The event welcomes around 3,500 students over three days, connecting them with more than 40 employers and education providers to showcase careers in science, technology, engineering and manufacturing. Support from partners such as Made Smarter has been instrumental in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the event.

Made Smarter has also collaborated with the Scarborough Business Ambassadors to support the STEM racing team from Scarborough UTC, part of a global engineering competition backed by Formula 1. After three years of collaboration between Made Smarter, Scarborough UTC and the ambassadors, the Scarborough team achieved third place overall at the world finals held in Singapore in September 2025, highlighting the global potential of local engineering talent.

Mike Pennington, Made Smarter Business Relationship Manager, said:

“The Castle Group with Simon and Jack were one of the first companies I worked with on the Made Smarter programme. They have been great to support with digital transformation and really demonstrated what the Made Smarter programme can deliver in a truly tech focussed business. The STEM week with students looking into tech/ manufacturing and the partnership with Unity F1 has been a bonus and two great organisations’ to be part off – true stars of the future”

The Made Smarter programme supports SME businesses in the York and North Yorkshire area with digital transformation in the manufacturing sector, with the coastal region emerging as a focal point over recent years to help and support.

Impact of support:

• Enabled Castle Group to start projects sooner by reducing funding barriers.
• Shortened development cycles through better digital tools and in-house testing.
• Improved productivity, allowing engineers to do more with the same resources.
• Created new revenue streams while lowering risk.
• Extended impact beyond the business by building future skills through STEM.

If you want to know more about the Made Smarter programme, speak to Mike Pennington for tech support, digital road mapping and possible grant support to digitise your manufacturing business.