Middlesex Group selected for £1.2m SiG
The company, which employs 140 people producing propeller systems and components for landing gear and helicopter gearboxes, is a major exporter to China and supplies industry leaders such as GE, Boeing, Airbus, Finmeccanica, and the Safran group.
The Sharing in Growth (SiG) programme will help develop the company to become more competitive so that it can win or retain around £21 million a year in contracts by 2020 – a one third increase in turnover.
Said Middlesex Group managing director Laurence Foulds: “All of our customers source globally so we must continue to offer world class cost of acquisition and quality. We have invested significant amounts in capital equipment in recent years and will continue to do so. We are now working with Sharing in Growth because our growth plan is dependent on ensuring we use all our assets as effectively as possible.”
To achieve its growth ambitions, Middlesex Group will work with SiG to enhance its offering, for example introducing more complex assemblies, and to improve its productivity, skills, and shopfloor processes. The company has already invested in NVQ qualifications for some of its staff and now wants to use SiG’s funded programme to accelerate skills development.
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.
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 congratulate Middlesex Group on joining the Sharing in Growth programme. They have undergone a robust business diagnostic and have the backing of their major customers to achieve their growth plans. There is significant growth opportunity for competitive UK manufacturers as the global aircraft order book currently stands at nine years.
“Sharing in Growth is helping to ensure the UK remains a world leader in aerospace by improving competitiveness and productivity in the supply chain. Our success to date means we have secured an additional £30 million from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) to recruit another 24 companies for the programme.”
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.