new equipment

Bicester-based Hardide, which develops advanced surface coating technology, has conditionally raised £2.5 million in new ordinary shares following significant demand from new and existing investors. The Board said the placing was significantly oversubscribed.

With these new funds the company plans to invest £1.5 million in replacement and additional modern equipment in connection with a move to new premises in Bicester this year.

The move will mean improvements to capacity, capability and environmental performance, said the company.

A major factor in the decision to buy new equipment is the need to keep the processing capability for Airbus components at the present UK site during the move to the new Longlands Road site. This is because Airbus approval is specific to equipment and its location. The new site will require its own audit and approval.

Secretary of State steps in to investigate Chinese approach for Redditch business

A proposed acquisition of Redditch-based Mettis Aerospace by Aerostar, a fund established in China, has prompted intervention at the highest level.

The former Business Secretary, Andrea Leadsom, issued a public interest intervention notice on the grounds of national security.

The Competition and Markets Authority is required to submit a report this month.

A statement on Mettis’s website said: “As a successful, growing company, we are regularly approached by organisations interested in Mettis Aerospace. We recently received an unsolicited approach from Aerostar. However, we are not having ongoing discussions and are not considering selling Mettis to Aerostar. We have invested over £25 million in the last five years in our forging, machining and sub-assembly capabilities and have invested in a new factory which is opening in early 2020. We have been creating jobs and winning key contracts for the West Midlands region.

“We are proud to be based in the UK and continue to be committed to Mettis Aerospace’s success into the future.”

A West Midlands manufacturer has won the contract to develop revolutionary charging points for electric vehicles. Coventry-based Sarginsons Industries, which traditionally supplies aluminium castings to a range of sectors including automotive and energy, is diversifying its business after becoming the sole supplier to Char.gy.

Char.gy has developed technology which sees charging points either mounted on to lamp posts or separate charging bollard units that can draw from the electricity supply to lamp posts.

The technology means that vehicle owners in urban areas where only on-street parking is available can access charging points for their all-electric or hybrid vehicles.

Char.gy, based in London, is already working with a number of UK local authorities to fit the technology in urban streets, with Coventry being one of the first to see units installed around the city.

Sarginsons will now supply the full unit to Char.gy including the aluminium castings as well as internal assembly, including the electronics.

The firm’s new Technology Centre Manager, Gavin Shipley, will oversee the project – he has worked with the company on the design and development in a previous role. Further new jobs will be created to work on the manufacture and assembly of the products.

Anthony Evans, Managing Director of Sarginsons Industries, said the work with Char.gy was part of the firm’s future plans to develop its offer in Design for Manufacture excellence.

“The core of our business is very much around lightweighting and we have put sustainability and green technologies at the heart of everything we do. So it’s great to be working with another business who have this at their core.”