Midlands auto supplier sees record revenues on strong demand from carmakers

A COVENTRY automotive supplier has tapped into strong domestic demand to achieve a record turnover.

Brose UK, which produces window regulators and seat structures for a number of global carmakers including Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan, has enjoyed a major surge in sales, with turnover rising £43m to £195m over the last twelve months.

The Coventry firm has also seen its workforce increase by 250 people to 900 employees to cope with demand and its apprentice and graduate programmes are also continuing to grow.

“When you look at how much new work we have secured, I think it’s fair to say we’ve taken a far greater proportion of the domestic growth than we first envisaged,” said managing director Juergen Zahl.

“In the last year alone, we have seen sales increase by 25% to a level that is now the highest in our 30-year history in Coventry.”

The firm produces for Nissan in Sunderland and Toyota in Burnaston, while in certain instances, it also supplies into tier 1 firms such as Lear and Johnson Controls.

“Jaguar Land Rover has been a key driver in our expansion and I’m delighted that we will shortly be starting production on a number of new model variants for the carmaker,” added Mr Zahl.

Brose is the world’s fifth-largest family-owned automotive supplier, employing more than 24,000 employees at 60 locations in 23 countries across the globe.

Group turnover is over €6bn and every second new vehicle worldwide is equipped with at least one Brose product.

Mr Zahl said the firm was also committed to Coventry, despite the events in the UK post-Brexit.

“Brexit has dominated the news in recent months, but it has been business as usual for us in the short-term, with customer volumes all increasing as planned,” he said.

“The group is firmly committed to Coventry and to ensuring we have the resources, technology and capability to continue to grow in line with the UK automotive sector.”