Manufacturer awarded £1.5m to grow patented technology

A Coventry manufacturer that has developed a cost-effective way of forming high strength aluminium has received £1.5m funding by investment group Mercia Technologies to build its workforce.

Mercia has invested £1.5m into Impression Technologies (ITL), a developer of advanced aluminium lightweighting technology, as part of a £3m funding round with co-investor IP Group.

The investment will enable ITL to build its commercial and operations team to support the commercial adoption of its patented technology, Hot Form Quench (HFQ®).

HFQ® is designed for the mass production of complex, high strength aluminium structures for use in the automotive, aerospace, rail and industrial sectors. It allows manufacturers to form shapes from high- and ultra high-strength aluminium in a cost-effective process. ITL has exclusive rights to license the technology.

The first HFQ® production facility in October 2016, and now ITL supplies around 25,000 components every year to manufacturers including Aston Martin and Lotus Cars.

Jonathan Watkins, ITL’s chief executive said: “This investment will enable the company to establish HFQ® technology as a global standard, and the aluminium lightweighting technology of choice for high-volume automotive applications worldwide.”