Lander Automotive expands after multi-million funding deal
A MIDLANDS automotive supplier has pressed ahead with an expansion strategy after securing a new funding deal.
Birmingham-based Lander Automotive secured £2m medium term finance from Barclays. This follows the company receiving a £1.06m loan and grant funding through the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI), which is managed by Finance Birmingham.
The funding has enabled the firm to invest in new production lines and tooling to supply products for Jaguar Land Rover’s new range of engines, which are being produced at its new engine plant on the i54 site near Wolverhampton.
Nick Houghton, Managing Director of Lander Group, said: “We are pleased to see the banking industry working alongside our local authority to help fund our new programs which will help secure employment in the region over a number a years.”
Nigel Bailey, Relationship Director at Barclays, added: “Barclays is pleased to build on our long standing business relationship with Lander Automotive to provide expansion finance at a time where new work programs do, as welcome as they are, place upfront investment costs on the supply chain.
“We are pleased to have worked alongside Finance Birmingham to provide a rounded finance package to help Lander Automotive expand their relationship with Jaguar Land Rover.”
Lander is a well-established automotive supplier, originally formed in 1877 as a wire goods manufacturer making products such as wire baskets and bedsteads. It grew steadily for over 60 years before starting to supply the growing UK automotive industry in the 1950s and this soon became its core market. The bending and welding technology used on wire was later applied to tubular products.
By 1991 the business had outgrown its inner city premises, and relocated to a new, purpose-built factory in Woodgate Valley. It has continued to grow by focusing on its core activities of tube manipulation, end forming, welding and brazing, and developing particular expertise in working with aluminium and stainless steel.
The company now supplies a range of structural and fluid carrying tubular assemblies to car manufacturers across Europe.
The company is today still managed by descendants of the original founder, and mixes traditional engineering skills with modern facilities, automated equipment, and the latest lean manufacturing techniques.
