A British factory has secured a £1.2 million export contract and increased its workforce by 20 per cent in yet another Brexit success story.
Alucast, which is one of the UK’s biggest foundries, has signed new contracts for high-quality parts used in car manufacturing and hydraulics.
The company was formed in the late sixties and is based in the heart of the industrial West Midlands. Now an award-winning aluminium casting business, the company has won a Manufacturer of the Year award and exports more than one third of its product.
The factory currently employs 120 highly-skilled workers and following a recent investment of £2 million into new machinery, including an 800-tonne fully-automated die casting machine producing in-demand parts has already secured a new export contract worth £1.2 million.
John Swift, CEO of Alucast, commented:
“We have always taken a long-term strategic view on how we move forward and this, firstly, has helped us negotiate some tough economic challenges and, secondly, is now helping us take advantage of opportunities in automotive, electrification and hydraulic components.
“This is our largest investment drive in nearly a decade and reflects an increase in demand for our high/low pressure, gravity and sand casting expertise, not to mention our expansive machining capabilities.
“The latter is proving extremely important as we are offering added value services for a host of blue-chip tier 1s and the vehicle manufacturers directly. We’re offering them the security of supply they are crying out for.”
Martin Haynes, Managing Director of Alucast added:
“There are lot of opportunities out there for UK manufacturing, but many of them will require investment in new technology and people to make them a reality.“
“At a time when interest rates are high, it would be great to see the Government act and do something to encourage and reward firms who are prepared to spend and improve their businesses.“
“With the level of recent capital investment, we now have capacity in our foundries and will also look to push on with other value added services, including heat treatment, Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) and casting simulation.
“We’ll do the innovation; all the politicians need to do is give us a level playing field and economic conditions that don’t change every week.”
Alucast is a founding member of the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN), an eight-strong collective of sub-contractors and an engineering design agency. The group say they have responded to the Government’s faltering strategic vision for industry by delivering their own blueprint for making the country globally competitive.
For further information visit www.alucast.co.uk
