Steel processing group reveals £10m Midlands investment plan

The steel processing group behind the acquisitions of Covpress and Caparo is to invest £10m in a new centre of excellence to support the West Midlands’ automotive industry.

Liberty Vehicle Technologies, a division of Liberty House, will open the new 50,000 sq ft facility at in Tachbrook Road, Leamington Spa next year.

The centre is designed to boost the group’s technological development and expand and enhance its current manufacturing capability in the advanced auto-components market.

Liberty, which is a Tier 1 supplier to several major vehicle manufacturers, has also further expanded its presence in the wider Midlands region with the acquisition of Daventry-based vehicle control systems business, Shiftec, which is being renamed Liberty Shiftec. The acquisition is expected to give the business access to cutting-edge mechatronics.

To further underline it capabilities within the automotive sector, the group is also to develop the hypercar originally proposed by the former Caparo until its demise.

The car, dubbed ‘T1 Evo by Liberty’, is intended to showcase the engineering strengths of the expanding group.
Early development of the hypercar, which still holds the original Top Gear track record, has been undertaken by Liberty’s own engineering team in collaboration with Daventry-based race-car design specialists JRM Group.

The developments coincide with the anniversary of the Liberty group in 1992 and the formal inauguration of Liberty Pressing Solutions, the business derived from the former Covpress.

Liberty acquired the Covpress by business from administrators – saving 750 jobs in the process – in January.

Announcing the latest investment, executive chairman of the Liberty House Group, Sanjeev Gupta said: “Britain has a vibrant vehicle manufacturing industry that made over 1.7 million cars and 93,000 commercial vehicles last year.

“That provides a huge opportunity to grow our own domestic supply chain and provide UK auto producers with local alternatives to the flood of imported components currently used in British vehicles.

“By creating this centre of excellence in our 25th anniversary year we’re signalling our intent to take a lead in the renaissance of the UK auto-components sector. This gives us a platform for growth and future job creation.”

Speaking ahead of a visit to Liberty Pressing Solutions, Business Minister Nick Hurd said: “Through our modern Industrial Strategy we are looking to build on strengths in the automotive sector in the West Midlands, creating high-skilled jobs while making the local economy as competitive as possible.

“Liberty’s investment in Covpress and this auto centre of excellence is the type of project our Industrial Strategy will look to support, creating well-paying engineering roles, boosting the UK’s domestic supply chain and delivering cutting edge innovation that builds on our status as a world-leader when it comes to auto.”

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