South West Metal Finishing selected for £1.2 million government-backed productivity programme
South West Metal Finishing has been selected for Sharing in Growth, a government-backed programme to help firms compete for increased aerospace business.
Part of 140 people strong EIC Group, South West Metal Finishing provides surface coverings such as electro and electroless plating, anodising, paint and powder coating and non destructive testing. Part of the Rolls-Royce, Airbus and Honeywell supply chains, the company’s customer base includes industry leaders such as Finmeccanica, Eaton Aerospace and McBraida.
The Sharing in Growth (SiG) programme, which attracts £1.2 million from the Regional Growth Fund for each participating company, will help develop the company to become more competitive so that it can double its turnover by winning or retaining around £14 million a year in contracts by 2020.
The company’s selection followed an in-depth three-month business diagnostic. Said EIC Group Finance Director Jackie Jacobs: “We are delighted to have been accepted. The Sharing in Growth Programme presents us with exciting training and development opportunities in support of our growth plans. We aim to be the UK leaders in our field of surface engineering and the work done so far with SiG’s diagnostic has shown the expertise, knowledge and support that the programme offers will help us achieve our aim.”
To achieve its growth ambitions, South West Metal Finishing recognised that it needed support to improve its productivity, skills, business structure and strategy. The company investigated several options, including third party consultants and local trainers, but decided that Sharing in Growth would help deliver the required growth as the programme is appropriately comprehensive and in-depth.
SiG is already helping 40 companies achieve their aim of an average 50% increase in productivity. SiG’s four year transformation programmes are designed to deliver and sustain improvements so that UK firms are better placed to compete for the continuing huge growth in the aerospace sector. It is now recruiting another 24 companies for the programme which has just won an additional £30 million from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF).
Established in 2013 with £50 million from the RGF and endorsement from Finmeccanica, Airbus, BAE Systems, Bombardier, GE, GKN and Rolls-Royce, SiG has already helped secure contracts worth over £1 billion for the first 24 firms on the programme, equivalent to around 1600 UK jobs. Ultimately the programme’s goal is to safeguard 10,000 UK jobs.
Said Sharing in Growth CEO Andy Page: “We are very pleased that South West Metal Finishing has joined the Sharing in Growth programme. The global aircraft order book currently stands at nine years so there is significant growth opportunity for ambitious UK manufacturers. We are helping to ensure the UK remains a world leader in aerospace through improved competitiveness and productivity in the supply chain.
“We look for companies who have a turnover of between £10m and £100m and are able to make staff available for training and on-the-job development. Companies are expected to match in kind – rather than cash – the value of the £1.2 million benefit they receive.”
SiG’s cross-functional experts tackle areas such as lean operations, manufacturing engineering, procurement and cost and value engineering. To ensure a sustainable and fully integrated transformation programme they also work with delivery partners such as Deloitte, Unipart Expert Practices, the National Physical Laboratory, The University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing and Industry Forum to provide world-class training in leadership, strategy, business planning and performance improvement.
Companies interested in joining the SiG programme can complete an expression of interest form which is available at www.sig-uk.org/apply.
For further information: Jinny McDonald-Matthews
Head of Communications
Sharing in Growth UK Ltd
jinny.mcdonald-matthews@sig-uk.org
(: 07828 175842
