A Warwickshire-based metal-forming specialist is celebrating a major transformation in fortunes not long after a management buy-in (MBI) was completed.

Pressmark Pressings, which provides high-volume components for automotive manufacturers was bought by management team Alan Gardner, John Nollett and Les Wilkins after they spotted an opportunity to turn around one of the sector’s most under-recognised businesses.
Backed by their own cash injection and funding from ABN AMRO and Cambridge and Counties Bank, the three entrepreneurs have used their knowledge and contacts to put in place a number of new processes that have seen the business secure more than £2m of additional contracts to supply pressed parts and sub-assemblies which will be used in new models for Honda and Nissan.
On its current site in Carylon Road, the firm has 26 large-bed presses, ranging from 150 to 1200 tonnes that allow for the production of different size products in both standard metals and exotic alloys. Moreover, the company has created over 25 full time jobs since the MBI.
Chairman Les Wilkins says: “There’s a strong belief between the management team that we can expand by undertaking project management of multi operation/stage work. One recent example is how we worked with a Japanese manufacturer of complex electromechanical components that was investigating production in the UK. It was a tentative enquiry at first, but we have given them advice and guidance during the feasibility study and, subsequently, provided quotes for tooling as well as production and assembly of components. It is the nature of the work that the lead times are quite long, but if you win it, you should retain it for the life of the model.”
For further information www.pressmark.co.uk

A UK-based supplier of press technology is playing a crucial role in the production of the new £1 coin.

Bruderer UK has installed a state-of-the-art machine into the Royal Mint’s Llantrisant facility, providing additional speed, capacity and flexibility. Capable of up to 825 strokes per minute, the BSTA 1600-117B2 is responsible for creating the hard cut blanks that form one of the first processes in the manufacture of the pound coin.
The machine has been specified with an 1170 mm press bed length and is capable of feeding material up to 500 mm wide by 12 mm thick – suitable for tooling relative to different types of currency production now and in the future. Bruderer’s BSTA 1600-117B2 also comes equipped with the latest B2 control system, meaning everything can be controlled from the HMI, including the setting of feeds and speeds, together with monitoring the stamping operation.
Mervyn Evans, engineering manager at the Royal Mint, says: “We are pleased to continue our long-standing relationship with Bruderer and I am delighted with the performance of the latest machine so far. It is delivering the speed and accuracy we need, and is a fundamental part of a production process that will eventually produce over 1.5 billion pound coins. The larger-than-normal tool bed also means that a range of materials for different denomination blanks can be processed. This is an ideal solution for our growing international client base.”
For further information www.bruderer.co.uk