The professional metal stamping and robotic assembly specialist is a Tier 1 supplier to Jaguar Land Rover, Renault and GM. The CovPress product range covers body in white and trim components including A/B/C/D pillars, suspension housings, fuel tank protectors, stiffener frames and wheel arches for numerous mainstream vehicles. In addition, CovPress supplies components to utility metering solutions supplier Landis & Gyr.
The deal secures the jobs of 740 skilled workers at the firm’s 33,000 m2 plant in Canley, Coventry. The business, which will be renamed Liberty Pressing Solutions, has existed on the Canley site for 120 years. It has benefited from major investment in the latest plant and machinery since being acquired by the previous owners in 2013.
Liberty Industries Group, part of Liberty House Group, which already has 17 engineering businesses employing over 1,000 people across the West Midlands, regards the CovPress acquisition as a strong strategic fit with its established and rapidly-expanding presence in the automotive supply chain. In particular, it will complement Liberty’s existing automotive pressed components facility in the West Midlands. Liberty Industries already supplies a range of components to JLR, Nissan and BMW as well as Gestamp, Unipres, Benteler, GKN, Adient, Calsonic, SNOP and Cummins.
In December the Group completed the purchase of the UK’s only aluminium smelter at Fort William and announced plans for aluminium wheel manufacturing there as part of a £450 million industrial and energy investment in the Scottish Highlands.
As part of its GREENSTEEL and GREENMETAL strategy, Liberty and sister company SIMEC, aim to reduce reliance on imports and supply the country's vehicle manufacturers with more components made locally from British aluminium and steel using renewable energy and recycled metal. The Group’s strategy is to create a fully-integrated UK industrial supply chain, from raw metal production through to engineered products such as the Liberty 920e advanced braking systems.
Referring to the latest acquisition, Douglas Dawson, chief executive of Liberty Industries Group, said: “We are very familiar with the high quality of the operation at Covpress and the skills and equipment in the business. As such we are extremely pleased they are becoming part of the Liberty Industries Group.
“We have drawn up a detailed plan to ensure the future sustainability and profitability of the business. That will include ongoing capital investment, strengthened financial management and the benefits that will come from joint purchasing and marketing with our other operations in the UK,” he added.
Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of the Liberty House Group, said: “There exists a huge opportunity for Britain’s industrial supply chain to achieve dynamic growth through becoming more innovative and competitive. By adding quality operations like CovPress to Liberty’s already thriving network, we aim to play a leading part in this landmark economic shift.”
