Doncasters secures £30m order from Volvo

STAFFORDSHIRE engineering group Doncasters has secured a contract worth £30m to supply Volvo with combustion liners for its Tay engine programme with Rolls-Royce.

The Burton-upon-Trent firm, which also has operations in Coventry, Shrewsbury and Sheffield, is a leading global manufacturer of precision-engineered components for the aerospace and power generation sectors.

The Volvo deal, for the ‘life of programme’, is expected to be worth £3m over each of the next 10 years and will see engineers in the group’s fabrications and combustors division supplying Ped Head and Transply liners for the programme, which is used on a number of airliners and larger business jets.

Craig Gooding, divisional managing director of Doncasters fabrications and combustors division, said: “I’m delighted we’ve secured this contract.

“Combustion liners are a performance-critical component in an aircraft’s engine, playing an essential role directing airflow around the engine. The liners have to operate at real extremes of temperature, which means the tolerances involved in their manufacture are incredibly tight.

“Securing this contract is welcome recognition for the quality of work undertaken within the division and the strong-track record we’ve developed in this area over recent years.”

Doncasters employees will spend the next few weeks assessing the processes involved in manufacturing the liners before developing a bespoke manufacturing cell to support the programme.

The processes will be constantly reviewed throughout the life of the contract.

“Winning new contracts is always good news but this is only the start of the process,” said Mr Gooding.

“Aerospace is a truly global industry and it’s essential that we operate with a culture of continuous improvement if we’re to deliver excellent service and secure more long-term contracts, such as this.

“I’m confident our team is more than up to the challenge and look forward to working with Volvo over the coming years to deliver this essential programme.”