Loughborough's Brush Transformers targets £20m sales rise
One of Leicestershire's best-known engineering firms aims to increase turnover by 50% to £60m over the next five years.
It comes after Brush Transformers announced it will begin making giant electrical transformers at its factory in Loughborough.
The company is spending £1m on new equipment needed to manufacture 132-kilovolt machines. Most of the transformers it makes at the moment are 33 kilovolts.
Speaking after a visit by the Chinese ambassador, during which she praised the firm, managers said the new investment will re-ignite growth at the company, which has stalled this year and is set to stay the same in 2010.
Operations director Martin Gunn said: "There's no one else making that size of transformer in the UK. We are looking at things being fairly positive over the next few years. Although we are expecting 2010 to be flat, we are hoping that in 2011 things will take off again."
Mr Gunn said the lack of major new developments in the UK, where the company makes two-thirds of its turnover, had had an impact on the business.
However, a combination of the larger transformers and the expected pick-up in the global economy should boost demand, he said.
"Currently, transformers of the size we are going to be making are imported into the UK," said Mr Gunn.
The company, whose transformers boost electricity supply across the National Grid, works with all the major electricity providers.
David Woolhouse, Brush Transformers managing director, said the new equipment would include a large vacuum oven, a 100-tonne crane and a large winding machine.
"Most of our machines at the moment are 33 kilovolts," he said.
"This allows us to sell a lot more 132 kilovolt machines.
"It would be for the same markets in the UK we currently deal with, as well as our customers in the Middle-East."
The firm's customers in the Middle-East are oil giants Shell and Saudi Aramco. Mr Woolhouse said the new equipment, which would be installed in the first half of next year, would increase factory capacity by 20 per cent.
Chinese Ambassador Fu Ying was given a guided tour of the Brush Transformers factory on Friday as part of a visit to the region organised by Government export agency UK Trade and Investment.
She also went to Kegworth engineering firm Slack & Parr and Loughborough University. Ms Ying said products made by UK manufacturers such as Brush were renowned for reliability and good design. She said: "When something is made in Britain, it's seen as good quality."
Sue Kirby, the Rutland-based East Midlands spokeswoman for the Engineering Employers' Federation, praised the company for its investment.
"I think it's an excellent example of a business that's planning for the future with new technologies," she said. "Those companies that look to invest in new technologies are more likely to have a long-term, sustainable future."
In April, Brush Transformers said it was cutting 20 jobs, while sister company Brush Electrical Machines, also at the Falcon Works complex in Nottingham Road, said it was axing 50 jobs.
The Brush group, which includes Brush Turbogenerators and rail firm Brush Traction, employs 1,250 people.
Source : thisisbusiness-eastmidlands.co.uk Tuesday 23rd June 2009
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