Sector Focus
Milestone for manufacturer
A manufacturer from Birmingham has celebrated its 60th year in business. Teal, based on Waterloo
Avenue in Birmingham, began supplying hand wash sinks to in 1959, and was launched by Bruce Lotherington, a baker by trade. He had been asked by Environmental Health to provide hand washing facilities for his staff on his bread vans, and formed Teal shortly after this request. Teal then went on to design
and manufacture the world’s first vehicle-mounted hot water handwash sink, which was then supplied to Eagle Engineering and fitted to dustcarts, a ground-breaking story that was picked up by national press at the time. The manufacturers say that
their sinks today are used by nearly every UK-based utility company, including Network Rail and civil engineering groups such as Laing O’Rourke, Interserve Construction, Morgan Sindall, Kier, Galliford Try and Balfour Beatty. More than 500,000 hand
wash sinks have been produced in the last 60 years. Today, the firm’s products
are used by many other sectors, notably the medical sector, to provide high standards of hygiene in wards and public areas where mains fresh water and drainage are unavailable. Teal sales director Chris
Whieldon said: “We do have a proud history, Birmingham- based manufacturing and with products that have been developed as a package to match or exceed the specification from customers.”
Manufacturing
Rescued BSA documents highlight historic brand
Rescued documents revealing more about the colourful history of one of Birmingham’s most iconic industrial brands have been saved from ending up in a skip. The documents are about BSA
Tools Ltd, once one of the world’s best known engineering businesses, which fell on hard times but which is once again turning a profit since being bought out of administration. Paul Eyles, who purchased the
business in 2017, came across the documents and has already handed many of them to local motor museums. Others, including correspondence between the company and the government relating to the controversial Matrix Churchill affair – the so-called ‘Arms-to-Iraq’ scandal – in the run up to the Gulf War during the 1990s, have been kept by BSA. Some of the documents tell how
the business moved to its current site in Kitts Green to avoid the Blitz during the 1940s and others refer to the larger-than-life character of former BSA chairman Sir Bernard Docker, who had a penchant for the high-life with his personal fleet of Daimlers trimmed in gold rather than chrome. He was eventually sacked by BSA after a string of extravagant expenses claims. “These documents were just left
here when we bought the business – they would have ended up in a skip if we hadn’t taken a closer look at them with an experienced archivist,” said Mr Eyles. Some of the documents were
donated to the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust at Gaydon and are related to the Lanchester Motor Company, once owned by BSA. Joanna Shortland, head archivist at the Trust, said: “Receiving the
Paul Eyles hands over documents about the Lanchester Motor Company to Faye McLeod, former archivist at the Jaguar Heritage Motor Museum
Lanchester Motor Company Ltd Minutes of the General Meetings 1906 – 1961 shone new light on a history that would otherwise been lost.” An acronym of Birmingham
Small Arms, the BSA name stretches back to the city’s Gun Quarter. During its heyday, BSA employed thousands of workers and was also once the world’s biggest motorcycle manufacturer, owning brands including Triumph and Daimler. Traditionally famous for
producing single and multi-spindle automatic and CNC lathes, the new-look BSA Tools Ltd has created up to 15 jobs at its former Kitts Green manufacturing site, in
Birmingham, where it is focused on training, new machine sales, repairs and servicing, along with maintenance of a wide range of tooling machines around the world. “Britain, and the Midlands in particular, is famous for its manufacturing and engineering prowess which was the envy of the world,” said Mr Eyles. “Unfortunately, it lost its way in
the latter part of the 20th Century through lack of investment, but the quality of the machines is testament to that historical excellence because they are still used by major automotive and aviation brands all over the globe. “This is all captured in the documents that we found.”
Sertec Group nets £1bn of new contracts
Automotive components manufacturer Sertec Group has secured nearly £1bn of new contracts. The contracts are mainly for specialist components for electric vehicles, or aluminium parts for vehicles. Sertec supplies some of the world’s most prestigious automotive firms. The Coleshill-headquartered firm
has also announced sales of £232m for the year ending March 2019. Sertec CEO Grant Adams said:
“Given ongoing uncertainty, the past 12 months hasn’t been without
90 CHAMBERLINK February 2020
its challenges across the wider sector, but we’re stronger for it and already seeing the rewards with new contract wins from a number of car manufacturers. “We’re optimistic about the year
ahead. Our ongoing investment in new technologies is what’s made us one of the UK’s leading OEM suppliers. The opportunity in the industry around electric vehicles is huge and we’re at the forefront of that. “Internationally - our site in Hungary is perfectly placed for the mainland European market at the
centre of an automotive manufacturing hub. Our aim is to double the turnover of this location in coming years.” In 2016, Sertec secured a £20m
funding package from BGF, Lloyds and Santander to support its growth ambitions, all three have extended additional support to the group for the future. Since the investment, Sertec has
expanded its customer base and extended its geographical reach into Europe through acquisitions.
Grant Adams: Challenging 12 months
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