Swiss-based Bruderer has reinforced its 55-year commitment to the UK by announcing a significant investment in the dedicated site on Hortonwood, just a stone’s throw away from the home of the industrial revolution.
Construction work on the bespoke facility will start in October and will see the creation of a dedicated competence centre capable of servicing new and pre-owned machines, restoration of legacy presses and, for the first time, a modern showroom that will give a first-hand insight into new models, ancillary equipment and turnkey solutions.
The move will see the firm relocate its existing facility from Luton to Shropshire over the course of the next nine months, with four new jobs and an apprenticeship programme set to be created to cope with an unprecedented increase in demand for its technology.
“We have been planning this investment for a number of years and I’m delighted that our parent company have recognised the potential in the UK and agreed to build our new factory and showroom,” explained Adrian Haller, Managing Director of Bruderer UK.
“The UK was the first subsidiary outside of our Switzerland home some 55 years ago and we still remain a strong base for Bruderer presses, with seven domestic companies investing in new machines in the last nine months alone.”
He continued: “We had outgrown our Luton facility and many of our staff, and indeed customers, are based in the Midlands. It was a natural decision to find a home in that region and Hortonwood gave us not only the perfect location, but also the space to build our new factory from the ground up.
“This means we can house all our spares, a cleaning and paint shop, machining area, quality checking station and exhibition space to promote all our solutions under one roof.
“Staff will also be looked after, with outside areas set in landscaped gardens, air-conditioning throughout, showers, changing rooms and EV charging.”
Bruderer UK is a market leader in high precision punching technology and turnkey solutions.
Its high-speed presses are synonymous with maximum performance, at highest precision with unsurpassed reliability in the metal stamping and forming industry.
The company range is focused on the BSTA series with a nominal force of 20 to 250 tonnes and a stroke rate range of between 1 to 2500 strokes per minute.
Thanks to several strategic partnerships with ancillary equipment providers, it also offers full turnkey solutions that include tooling, servo feeders, decoilers, multi-way rewinders, vision systems and press and tool monitoring systems.
Adrian, who started at Bruderer UK in 1998 and has headed up the UK operation since 2007, went on to add:
“Customers will benefit significantly from this investment. For the first time, they will have a state-of-the-art demonstration centre to explore our latest high speed presses and even set-up tooling projects to prove-out the effectiveness of the machine.
“We also have lots of training space, so can have staff from our clients on site to show them exactly how to get the most out of their Bruderer high-speed stamping machines.”
Andreas Fischer, Chairman of Bruderer, concluded: “Shropshire is seen across the world as the birthplace of the industrial revolution and, today in 2023, still offers proximity to a lot of existing and new customers.
“I believe this move gives us the foundations to grow and plan for the next 55 years in the UK.”