SOUTHERN TECH 100
TM number 23: Xtrac Exports continue to drive forward
Established in 1984, headquartered in Thatcham and owned by its employees, Xtrac is the recognised world leader in the design and manufacture of transmission systems for motorsport racing and high- end specification cars. Matt Wright sat down with Xtrac’s finance director, Stephen Lane, to find out what drives this company….
Indy 500 Start 2016
“We’ve had a great start to our financial year; our order book is up 20% for the first quarter, with great visibility going forwards.”
As a company for whom exports make up more than 75% of turnover, this is no mean feat, especially given the winds of macroeconomic uncertainty which have buffeted the world economy in recent months. As Lane explains: “Europe is our most significant export market (around 55% of turnover), with the Americas and the UK accounting for roughly 20% each.”
Europe
“We haven’t seen any downturn yet in Europe, but like many companies we’re waiting to see what the full impact will be from Brexit. However, our mantra remains that we can’t influence the outside world – all we can do is to control what we’re doing and that means remaining the best designer and manufacturer of motorsport and high- end transmission systems in the world.”
Xtrac works with household names in European motor racing, as well as with high-end performance cars such as Pagani. Having the two different markets enables the transfer of technology between racing and road cars.
Americas
“One of our best decisions was to incorporate Xtrac Inc in the US back in 2003. We’re based in Indianapolis about four miles from the speedway circuit, so we really do live and breathe motor racing over there. It’s a sales and technical support office, with assembly and rebuild capability, and has been the catalyst for our growth across the Americas region.”
Xtrac’s original US client was Indy Car, having won the contract to supply the whole of the grid with transmission systems. Since then, the company’s presence has expanded considerably, so that Indy Car now only accounts for about a quarter of the Americas’ turnover, Xtrac having grown in sports car, NASCAR, and off-road racing.
Lane illustrates with an example: “Interest was dwindling in the Brazilian Stock Car Series – large numbers of the cars were not finishing the races, with viewing figures dropping sharply. We offered them our endurance gearboxes which we knew would last the entire season. Suddenly, cars were racing to the finish once again and supporter interest returned. This proved a springboard to our involvement in racing in Argentina and Uruguay.”
UK
Xtrac is situated in the south in what is known as ‘Motorsport Valley’, a cluster of companies based around the Midlands and Oxfordshire all the way down to Woking, encompassing much of the supply chain for the UK motorsport industry.
Around 300 people work in the Thatcham head office, Xtrac’s global manufacturing base. As a result, Xtrac spends a great deal of time attracting the best young engineering talent here; it runs a three-year apprenticeship scheme in conjunction with Newbury College and also works closely with universities to bring in the best young talent.
“Our apprenticeship scheme has been phenomenally successful – we have over 100 applicants a year for the four annual places, and over half of them stay for more than five years’ post-qualification.”
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – APRIL 2017
businessmag.co.uk 51 Stephen Lane
It is clear speaking to Lane that he is proud of Xtrac’s values (such as honesty, integrity, flexibility) and the DNA which makes Xtrac a special place. The company epitomises ‘high-precision engineering’ and has become a byword for reliability in an industry where teams and sponsors cannot risk mechanical failure as “to finish first, first you have to finish.”
Asked whether there was anything he would like to change, Lane replies: “As a country we continue to underinvest in the STEM subjects, and often inadvertently from an early age, historic stereotypes are reinforced that engineering is a male profession. If this were to change then we really would be driving a technology-led economy where we could tap into the most creative people from across the whole population.”
In the meantime though, for a company where longevity is the key feature, Xtrac’s future seems assured.
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