Manufacturing jobs saved as Birmingham firm rescued from administration

ALMOST 40 manufacturing jobs in Birmingham have been saved in a deal that will create one of the largest independent metal pressings firms in the region.

Black Country-based Millennium Assemblies, which was founded last year to look for opportunities to work alongside Millennium Pressed Metal’s established business, has purchased JJ Engineering from the administrators.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

It is now planning to use the additional capacity to embark on a two-year plan to significantly enhance joint sales revenue to £10m.

As part of the move JJ Engineering will be renamed Millennium Assemblies and will sit alongside Millennium Pressed Metal to form the newly named ‘Millennium Manufacturing Group’.

The acquisition has been supported by Crowe Clark Whitehill and the Wilkes Partnership.

Former Cab Automotive managing director John Faulkner will take the helm at the Garretts Green factory in co-ownership with MD of Millennium Pressed Metal, Anna Stevenson.

“JJ Engineering has a great workforce and a long history of supplying quality metal parts. The team shares our commitment to world class manufacturing, innovation and customer service and we are very proud to have created a new platform for the future,” said Faulkner.

“Sister company Millennium Pressed Metal had picked up a number of large contracts, so the ability to further increase our capacity with the purchase of the JJ Engineering plant was too good to turn down. There is also the added benefit of now being able to offer robotic welding, a well-equipped tool room and state-of-the-art metrology lab.

“It has an enviable client base of automotive, domestic goods and construction customers, not to mention a presence in oil and gas…all areas we are looking to gain a greater market share in.”

The deal has seen 39 jobs saved and Faulkner said the firm now had it sights set on further growth – which could mean new jobs being created.

Millennium Manufacturing Group will employ 84 people across the two manufacturing sites and is set to turnover in excess of £7m in the next 12 months.

The two companies offer a single source solution for pressed metal components, machined parts, tube manipulation, wire forms and welded assemblies.

“We now have more than 65 presses (from 25 to 350 tonnes) at our disposal,” said Ms Stevenson.

“The acquisition comes on the back of the most successful twelve months in our 15-year history and just a few months after securing one of our biggest contracts – a £1.3m order to manufacture white goods pressings.”

Devinder Singh, head of Restructuring & Insolvency at Squire Patton Boggs in Birmingham advised Paul Masters and Conrad Beighton of Leonard Curtis who were the joint administrators of JJ Engineering. He was also assisted by Russell Hill and Mark Prior from SPB.

He said: “JJ Engineering has a loyal supplier and customer base within the manufacturing and automotive sectors which meant that the administrators could continue to trade the business in order to preserve jobs and maximise the return to creditors while looking for a buyer. 

“In this day and age, many businesses are sold as a pre-pack with completion taking place immediately after an administrator is appointed to avoid the business losing value, so this was an unusual case from that point of view.”

TheBusinessDesk.com and international law firm Squire Patton Boggs are currently looking to gauge levels of confidence within the manufacturing sector and to determine what businesses want to see happen over the course of the next 12 months.

A key aspect of this will be a survey, running across all three of our regions, which can be completed here.
 
It addresses key topics such as skills shortages, the supply chain, education, EU membership, access to finance, energy and re-shoring.
 
Once complete, we will gather the data and use the insight to set the agenda for a series of round tables in May and June with leaders of manufacturing businesses and sector experts, which will then be published on our website later in the summer.
 

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