Chamberlin sees future in consumer products as it embarks on £1.8m fundraise

Chamberlin, the Walsall-based foundry operator, says it is placing over 30 million shares on the market so that it can raise £1.8m to help pursue its turnaround strategy.

The move comes as Chamberlin looks to move away from its automotive base into new sectors such as consumer products. In December 2020 the firm lost one of its major automotive customers, BorgWarner Turbo Systems.

Chamberlin had a “difficult” period financially for the 14 months ended 31 May 2021 and took the decision to change its year-end to May to allow it to complete its restructuring programme and to trade under the revised cost and organisation structure from 1 June 2021. The group recorded a “disappointing” £10.4m loss before tax in FY21 after significant one-off losses of £7.2m almost entirely due to the loss of the BorgWarner contracts which were mainly non-cash.

Chamberlin is now concentrating heavily on ecommerce and its Iron Foundry Weights and Emba cookware ranges and says it is also exploring the medtech sector.