The group has seen a £10 million increase in sales, which has paved the way for 125 new jobs. It puts its success down to the positive Sterling exchange rate and a growing desire for British innovation – both of which have combined to see MAN win contracts in the automotive, aerospace, electronics, renewables and medical sectors.
All nine members have experienced growth in the last year and have benefited additionally from sharing best practice, purchasing power and working together to target new customers. This success means the group now employs 1,000 people across 15 factories, with an order book approaching £90 million – of which 40% is sent overseas.
Explains Rowan Crozier, chief of Brandauer and the new chairman of MAN: “I am a firm believer in the power of collaboration and that is exactly what has helped us to grow the collective and our individual businesses over the last year.
“We were all together when the results of the European Referendum vote were announced and we were shocked. That feeling lasted for about ten minutes and then, like typical manufacturers, we decided to roll-up our sleeves and see how we could make the most out of the situation. The fall in the price of Sterling has certainly been a big help.
“This is only one element though. The UK is a great place to manufacture and we are becoming increasingly competitive with our international rivals thanks to a renewed focus on training, investment in automation and a willingness to innovate. Those are the true ingredients behind our success.”
MAN consists of Alucast, Barkley Plastics, Brandauer, Grove Design, KimberMills International, Mec Com, Muller Holdings, PP Control & Automation and SMT Developments. Between them, they offer every engineering discipline imaginable, from automation and control systems to casting and forging. It is also working with the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) to improve processes and commercialise new technologies.
Continue Crozier: “This is a very exciting time to be taking the reins at MAN and there’s some immediate opportunities I want to focus on, primarily widening the network’s reach to win more business and strengthening our existing relationships with academia.
“There’s also plenty of new sectors we have yet to really touch and we’ll be looking to take our message out on the road to firms involved in the aerospace, military and defence sectors.”
