Machine press firm benefits as Sertec invests £10m to meet JLR’s demands

A LEADING supplier to Jaguar Land Rover has helped pass on the car maker’s success by investing £10m in a new equipment order.

The investment by Coleshill-based Sertec is also staying in the Midlands supply chain as the region continues to bask in the glow of the buoyant new car market.

An illustration of the UK market’s strength has been demonstrated with new car sales hitting a 17-year high in March.

JLR itself also enjoyed a record month, with Land Rover sales equating to a new deal every two minutes; while sales for Jaguar saw dealers ship out a new car at the equivalent of one every eight minutes.

Such has been JLR’s growth that it has placed big demands on its suppliers and Sertec has been one of the main beneficiaries.

Sertec has now tapped into the machinery expertise of Birmingham-based Bruderer UK to purchase 12 machines to ensure it can continue to meet the volume demands of one of the world’s largest car makers.

The first tier supplier, which secured a £20m investment from BGF and Lloyds Bank in February, has committed more than £10m to the three-year modernisation programme that has seen it start to install a host of ZANI Motion Master presses, ranging from 250 to 800 tonnes.

It marks the continuation of a long-term relationship between the company and Bruderer UK and will give it the speed, quality and capacity to develop structural stampings – in both steel and aluminium – for all of the new Jaguar Land Rover models.

“We have been the exclusive sales, spare parts and service provider for ZANI for more than two years in the UK and this is without doubt the biggest deal we’ve ever agreed,” said Adrian Haller, managing director of Bruderer UK.

“Our specialists were invited in by Sertec to look at an upgrade plan for part of its press shop. We looked closely at its requirements, the end application and predictions of volumes going forward, with the answer to many of these questions being ‘ZANI’.

“The Italian firm’s presses have been used by Sertec for more than 20 years and are renowned for their durability, precision and their ability to prolong tool life. It initially started out as six machines, but quickly grew to 12, with all of them being fitted with coil lines and servo feeds.”

The deal also includes a service agreement.

Dave Steggles, managing director of Sertec Group, said: “We expect to grow our £197m turnover significantly in 2016 and the key to continuing this momentum is to ensure we are investing in our technology and our capability.

“This project is unprecedented in terms of size and has quickly escalated from six presses to 12. It’s a learning curve, but one we’ll complete and one that will deliver greater quality, manufacturing performance and capacity to our customers.”

The deal comes less than a week before Bruderer unveils a new machine at the MACH trade show at the NEC.