West Midlands 10-subcontractor group celebrates anniversary with more orders and new branding

Originally established as part of an Advantage West Midlands and Accelerate-backed automotive initiative, MAN has evolved into a self-sustainable group that boasts a combined company turnover of £60 million and employs 600 people. The five original members – Alucast, Barkley Plastics, Brandauer, FW Cables and Westley Engineering – have been joined by Advanced Chemical Etchings, Excalibur Engineering, PP Electrical Systems, Note UK and Wrekin Circuits. MAN, which offers technical excellence in every aspect of mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering processes, has made recent contract hauls in the automotive, medical and white goods sectors. Backed by this recent success, MAN is also set to introduce the evolution of a new identity for the group, with a new brand, promotional material and website set to be launched at Subcon 2010 (8-10 June), to be held at Birmingham's NEC. "There is nothing like MAN anywhere in the world and this is giving us a great competitive advantage over other domestic and international rivals," explained David Spears, chairman of the group and managing director of founding member Brandauer. "We have 10 complementary manufacturers working together to offer our customers unparalleled access to technical services, engineering best practice and supply chain management. There is no competition, all our members share similar values and we all have one common aim – to make the West Midlands the centre of manufacturing excellence. "We now have a proven track record of successful projects, and global OEMs and Tier 1s are looking to us as a viable way of improving engineering design, vendor rationalisation, inventory reductions, speed to market and significant cost savings. "The impetus is there and we're showing everyone what can be achieved by working together and pooling resources."