Auto manufacturer on target to smash £7m turnover target
A BIRMINGHAM manufacturer is on course to smash the £7m barrier for the first time in its 50-year history.
Barkley Plastics, a plastic injection and toolmaking specialist, has been helped with its target by securing a number of new automotive contracts and launching its own line of PVC floor tiles called ‘Plasfloor’.
More than £600,000 has been added to turnover in the last 12 months, helping to create eight new jobs. The workforce now totals 112, with three currently completing their apprenticeships.
The business was set up in 1965 by John Barkley after he recruited four toolmakers – Bob Chittleborough, Bob Fisher, Maurice Harwood and Tony Challinor – to begin an operation supplying nearby automotive suppliers.
The quartet initially kept their day jobs at Lucas, choosing to work the evening at ‘John Barkley Plastics’, before a surge in demand from Mini, Rolls-Royce and Lucas themselves made them all take the plunge and go full-time.
“We’ve certainly come a long way since we first started in Balsall Heath,” said Mark Harwood, the current managing director and son of one of the original four.
“The name Barkley Plastics is now recognised throughout industry for its world class quality in injection moulding and toolmaking and we currently supply components that are used in domestic goods, innovative locking devices and for car makers including BMW, McLaren and Jaguar Land Rover.
“Just last year, we hit the headlines for supplying 20,000 plastic baubles to the world’s largest chandelier used at the Winter Olympics in Sochi.”
The company moved to its current Highgate premises in 1968 and, many incarnations and investment decisions later, now boasts an 85,000 sq ft facility full of plastic injection moulding machinery and a dedicated toolroom that is working 24-hours to keep up with demand.
Automotive continues to play a major part in turnover, with flashing beacons and interior components still made for many car makers, plus door handles for JLR and rear lamp components for Nissan. A current speciality is light guides, which are now being introduced in many new cars to create ambient lighting.
The firm is also a member of the Midlands Assembly Network (MAN), a group of nine sub-contract manufacturers that collaborate to win work at home and abroad.
The company was a founder member of the unique collective and has benefitted from sharing best practice, learning about new processes and collaborating on apprentice training programmes.
It is currently working with other MAN companies to bring two innovative locking devices – Loqski and Guardfreight – to market. The latter has just had its global launch and is aimed at reducing the $80bn cost of lost cargo.
