Address
Blyth, Northumberland
U.K. NE24 2QW
Telephone
+44(0)1670 336766
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 08:00 - 17:30
Made in the UK North East Awards 2026
Made in the UK Awards, November 2026
Royal Academy of Engineering, Port of Tyne Venture Connect 2026, Autodesk Technology Impact Programme
North East England engineering
What we are building
Zeromachine combines a near-term commercial product with a longer-term clean-sheet hydrogen fuel cell hybrid telehandler programme.
Our High Voltage Power Distribution Unit (HVPDU) is Zeromachine’s near-term revenue bridge: a 1000V / 350A unit that safely distributes electrical power around a vehicle or machine. It is designed from the outset for the rigours of off-road and off-highway equipment, but equally at home on the road.
Alongside the HVPDU, Zeromachine is developing a clean-sheet hydrogen fuel cell hybrid electric telehandler designed from first principles for serious off-highway work. The programme is built around lifecycle design: a machine intended to last, to be maintained properly, to be repaired sensibly, and to cost less to own and operate than diesel over its working life. The zero-emission outcome matters, but it is not the only selling point — the machine also has to make hard commercial sense.
What the raise unlocks
HVPDU to market
Bring our High Voltage Power Distribution Unit (HVPDU) to market as Zeromachine’s near-term revenue product, creating the first commercial runway for the wider programme.
Core IP protected
Use capital to formalise protection around the core control architecture and supporting technical know-how that underpin the larger long-term vision.
Bench-stage progress
Move the hydrogen fuel cell hybrid telehandler programme forward through bench-stage development, reducing technical risk and progressing the architecture towards demonstrator stage.
Why Zeromachine
Zeromachine combines deep off-highway electrical design experience with a staged commercial route to market.
Zeromachine is not a pitch-deck company looking for a problem to attach itself to. It is an engineering business being built in the right order: near-term product first, long-term programme second, with each stage intended to create value for the next.
Zeromachine was selected in December 2024 by the Royal Academy of Engineering for cohort 5 of the 2025 Regional Talent Engines programme. Regional Talent Engines is the Academy’s six-month pre-accelerator for early-stage engineering and technology founders in Northern England, Northern Ireland and Wales, combining expert mentoring, practical training and an equity-free £20,000 grant through a competitive selection process. That mattered because it came through the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub, ranked number 1 start up hub in the UK by the Financial Times, Statista and Sifted. The Made in the UK North East Newcomer of the Year award in March 2026 added useful external recognition after that.
The business is led by Gavin Duffy, who brings approximately 35 years of automotive and off-highway electrical design experience, including senior electrical design roles at Elddis and Snorkel Europe. That background matters because the design choices behind Zeromachine are informed by direct experience of how machinery is actually built, compromised, maintained and lived with in the real world.
Why now
If not now, then when?
Construction machinery is a conservative industry. That cuts both ways: change is slower, but the opportunity is greater for anyone prepared to leave behind diesel legacy thinking and design for what comes next. Zeromachine’s aim is not to reimagine a telehandler for the sake of it. The basic telehandler layout has already been optimised and remained broadly stable for around 30 years, with only minor iteration. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel. We are clean-sheeting the machine to remove inherited diesel assumptions and adapt the design properly for the next shift in powertrain and actuation.
That matters because the timeline is real. A machine of this kind will take time to develop properly, and the original sense of urgency has only increased. Regulatory pressure, operating cost pressure and geopolitical instability are already making conventional diesel equipment harder to justify over the life of the machine. Zeromachine’s view is that sustainable design is not design for optimised manufacture alone. It is design for optimised longevity in service: a machine intended to last, to be maintained properly, to be repaired sensibly, and to deliver better economics over its working life. These are expensive assets, and customers do not want to be replacing them every four years.
Zeromachine is realistic about that. We are not the first to see electrification or hydrogen as part of the future of telehandlers. Battery-electric machines are already in the market, Manitou has developed a hydrogen fuel-cell telehandler prototype and has publicly targeted a hydrogen machine for market, and JCB has already taken hydrogen internal-combustion telehandlers into live site trials. Our opportunity is different: not to challenge the market position of businesses like JCB or Manitou in the near term, but to challenge the industry’s thinking and show what a more fully electrified machine architecture can look like when it is designed properly from the outset. The aim is not to out scale the incumbents overnight, but to get ahead of where the market will need to go next
Founder and backing
Zeromachine is led by deep practical engineering experience and supported by a growing network of credible programmes, partners and advisors.
Zeromachine is led by founder and CEO Gavin Duffy, an automotive electrical and electronics design engineer with approximately 35 years of experience across passenger carrying vehicles, off-highway machinery and low- and zero-emission systems. That background is broader than automotive alone and includes building automation and energy management, contract electronic manufacturing, industrial design and automation, infrastructure monitoring and communications systems, and early-career technical sales experience that remains highly relevant.
That experience has been grounded in technical leadership rather than day-to-day personnel management: leading engineering project teams, guiding design decisions, and taking responsibility for getting complex systems designed, built and working properly. It also shaped a commercially important habit of dealing with customers plainly and honestly. Strong sales capability matters. Great salespeople can build relationships and close opportunities in ways that deserve real respect. But the company is being built on the principle that plain speaking, technical honesty and commercial integrity are a strength, not a weakness. That means telling the truth, being clear about what we know and what we do not, and building long-term trust without drifting into spin or theatre.
That same approach applies to delivery discipline and cost. Gavin is not the kind of engineer who designs in isolation from budget reality or keeps refining indefinitely because something could always be made slightly different. Budget constraints have often driven some of his most innovative work. Just as importantly, there is an understanding of when to stop: once the project brief has been achieved in full, the right decision is to stop there, validate the outcome, and move on rather than chase unnecessary refinement for its own sake.
The business is also supported through a growing network of programmes, partners and advisors, including the Royal Academy of Engineering, Port of Tyne Venture Connect, Autodesk Technology Impact Programme, Business Northumberland and the National Climate Tech Accelerator. That support is reinforced by an advisory board around the business, helping provide challenge, perspective and practical guidance as Zeromachine moves from concept towards commercial reality. Business Northumberland is the business support service from Northumberland County Council, offering guidance, access to funding and partner networks for growth in the county, while the National Climate Tech Accelerator is delivered by Sustainable Ventures and Barclays Eagle Labs to support UK climate-tech founders with mentoring, investor connections and wider scale-up support
SERIOUS ENGINEERING. CLEAR NEXT STEPS
Looking for serious seed capital, not passive applause
Zeromachine is looking for seed and angel investors who want meaningful engagement with a serious engineering programme. If that sounds like you, we would welcome a conversation.