The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) visited Sarginsons’ foundry on Torrington Avenue, Coventry, for a tour of the firm’s shop floor and operations.
The visit was organised by the Cast Metals Federation and supported by the CWLEP Growth Hub. Sarginsons is on track to grow sales by 30% to £7.5 million by the end of 2017, following a £130,000 investment in energy efficient equipment including two new gas furnaces, a new air compressor and new LED lighting across its facility.
Explains Sarginsons managing director Anthony Evans: “We were honoured to have taken a visit from the BEIS just before they announced their industrial strategy, which I am delighted to hear focuses on investment into research and development, and the next generation of workers.
“These were two key areas we highlighted to BEIS during the visit as being really important to Sarginsons over the coming years. The wider British manufacturing industry, including Sarginsons, needs to be better prepared for an increase in demand, in terms of more investment in developing workforce skill sets and innovative processes, which was acknowledged by our visitors.”
He continues: “For example Sarginsons has seen extreme growth in orders from North America for aluminium car parts both as the material becomes more popular overseas and because of the weakness of the pound. Although these overseas orders are niche, all of the signs show that this is going to grow moving forward and we need to be able to capitalise on this.
“Overall the visit was a real success, and we were pleased to hear that the delegates were impressed with our on-site quality control technology, which has helped to competitively engage all of our staff to drive top level results.”
The Department of BEIS visited Sarginsons as part of a tour of the wider West Midlands, and was set up by Dr Pam Murrell, chief executive of the Cast Metals Federation (CMF).
Pictured: Anthony Evans (centre) with visitors from BEIS, CMF and the CWLEP Growth Hub
