Kimber Drop Forgings unveils £1m state-of-the-art forge

More than £1 million has been invested into a state-of-the-art forge that will help a Black Country manufacturer increase sales in the automotive, petrochemical and rail markets and create five new jobs.

Kimber Drop Forgings, which employs 27 people at its Gawne Lane site in Cradley Heath, unveiled its new capabilities today, with the management team signalling its intentions to reach £5m annual sales by the end of the year.

Backed by the Regional Growth Fund and Sandwell Council, the investment was celebrated at a high profile event featuring Mike Lyons (HS2 Programme Director), Rachel Eade (Business Growth Service) and a mix of customers and suppliers.

Delegates heard how the new facility will be fully air-conditioned, sound proofed and features a 70 hundredweight hammer suite capable of producing forged parts up to 75kilograms - 25kg bigger than its previous best.

Kimber Drop Forgings will also have to employ five new people to make the most of the new capacity, with a number of these expected to be apprentices.

"You don't hear about many new forges being built in the UK, so we're delighted to put our sector on the map with this sizeable investment," explained Larry Joyce, the group chairman.

"Like many businesses we had a tough time during the recession of 2009 and had to make decisions that didn't come easy. However, we managed to battle through it and have now got to the stage where turnover has hit £4m, a slight increase on what we were doing before the global dip."

Mr Joyce added: "To move us to the next level we needed to increase our capacity and our ability to supply customers with larger components. Rather than patch up existing plant, we decided to build a new forge, a rarity in the Black Country in recent years."

The £1m investment is now complete and Kimber Drop Forgings is striving to attract new work to feed into the facility.

This will focus on securing additional contracts to manufacture automotive suspension and brake components, whilst enquiries to supply some of the major tier one suppliers in rail have started in earnest.

The firm has also contributed to the re-shoring drive, taking the decision to bring oil and gas pipe clamps previously produced in Poland back to the UK. This is £100,000 of work and will directly employ two local people.

Geoff Turnbull, managing director, added: "One of the things I'm really excited about is that we can now offer a turnkey package, from really small components to large ones weighing over 75kg.

"This immediately opens up opportunities to supply new oil and gas customers, not to mention making stronger inroads into automotive, construction, mining and tunnelling.

"We've conservatively said £5m, but with what we have in the pipeline I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't hit £7m sales by 2016."

Established just after the World War Two in 1946, Kimber Drop Forgings offer high quality forgings and machined parts in steel, stainless steel, carbon, aluminium and super duplex.

The firm currently exports 20 per cent of its annual turnover to customers in Canada, Dubai, Europe, Malaysia and the United States.

At any one time, it can call upon the additional services and capabilities of Mills in Coventry and Taront and Admire Coatings, who are both located on its site in Cradley Heath.