Andy Street, the first Mayor of the West Midlands and a key spokesman for the region, visited Mettis Aerospace during his recent tour of Redditch. He was keen to talk about business growth, competitiveness and skills gaps as he was shown around our facilities by Jeremy Cieslik, Chief Operating Officer.
Jeremy demonstrated how Mettis is a key player in the Midlands aerospace cluster, how we’ve invested £11m over the last three years and £10m this year, as part of our 2020 strategy to be a leading, global forging and machining company.
Investments in technology and new facilities
Among the investments discussed were twelve new machines we’ve installed to enhance automation, additional furnaces to increase productivity and two new presses which will be delivered in 2018, the first in 35 years. We also talked about the diversity of other investments we’ve made such as the transformation of our laboratory, dedicated technology centre, R&D workshop, the first additive-layer welding machine in the UK to repair dies, water jet cutting, new etching facilities, infrastructure and more.
We also talked about the wide-ranging energy-saving initiatives in which we’ve invested as part of our commitment to protecting the environment and keeping our business competitive at a time when the cost of energy, one of our key overheads, is rising rapidly.
Investments in people and vital skills
The visit was also a great opportunity for Mr Street, who was joined by Kevin Dicks (Chief Executive of Bromsgrove District Council and Redditch Borough Council), Cllr Bill Hartnett, Cllr Juliet Brunner and Dean Piper (Head of Economic Development and Regeneration for North Worcestershire), to meet the growing team at Mettis. We’ve brought on thirty six new people since the beginning of this year and we’ve created over twenty new jobs which we’ll be looking to fill as we head into the New Year. Based on our accelerated growth around current and next generation aerospace programmes, we could see our team grow to over 600 by 2020.
Mr Street was keen to hear how we’re investing in people and helping to develop vital skills. We talked about the 160 training days we invest in every month, key development programmes and the new apprentices we take on every year. Jeremy also expressed the company’s desire to collaborate in the future on a training academy focused on developing the engineering skills needed in the future.
Mettis Aerospace continues to grow globally
Mr Street also got to hear about our shared vision, team value plan and governance as well as how we use stand up reviews to drive performance at every level, every day.
Our turnover is expected to grow to around £78m this year, £100m by 2020, which is a significant leap from a turnover of £48 million just five years ago.
It’s our rounded strategy, with continued investment in our people, processes, products and technology that keeps us growing. We’re proud to be making such a big contribution to West Midlands aerospace and British business while competing in one of the most exciting industries in the world.
