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AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR VIEW
GOING FULL THROTTLE
By Ged Henderson
You won’t find January 14, 1969, in any history books but the importance of the date to the development of the automotive industry cannot be underestimated.
This was the day that Carr Reinforcements (CR), a little-known textile company that is today based in east Lancashire, successfully wove the first ever carbon fibre fabric in the world – a fact proudly proclaimed on its website today.
That technological breakthrough helped launch a new composite industry which has proved game-changing for motor manufacturing across the globe, as well as the aerospace sector. Most of the structural weight of an F1 is carbon fibre.
Today the business, which operates from a mill in Worsthorne near Burnley, remains a key player in its specialist field. Part of a worldwide supply chain, director Eric Taylor says around 80 per cent of its production is for export.
China is a major destination, with many of the automotive components created using its high-performance products ending up back in Europe.
The operation, which has a 10-strong workforce and a turnover of around £1.5m, can make around 200 different patterns of weave and supply a wide range of colours to its customers. Eric says: “Around 30 per cent of our output goes into the automotive industry.”
CR is just one example of the innovation and expertise that has driven Lancashire’s automotive sector and which continues today as businesses based in the county look to move into an even higher gear.
The West Midlands may be known as the centre of Britain’s motor industry but the North West is a major player and Lancashire companies are set to play a big role in its future.
In fact, figures show that the North West is now the UK’s second biggest car-making region, employing 21,500 workers and generating £1.9bn for the economy.
More statistics from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) highlight that since 2011, the North West has received
more investment in electric vehicle (EV) technology than the West Midlands - £2.8bn compared to £2.1bn.
There was more good news for the North West at the end of last year. Building on its commitment to grow an all-electric vehicle range, automotive giant Ford announced it had invested a further £125m in its Halewood facility on Merseyside – increasing capacity by 70 per cent. It takes the total investment in enabling Halewood’s transformation to an EV component plant to almost £380m.
Kieran Cahill, Ford’s European industrial operations vice-president, says: “Halewood is playing a critical part as our first in-house investment in EV component manufacturing in Europe.”
A third of the membership of the Northern Automotive Alliance (NAA), which is headquartered in South Ribble, is made up of businesses based in Lancashire, with many of them looking to plug into the electric revolution.
These 33 companies are involved in all aspects of motor manufacturing, from specialist
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