JVM Castings, one of Jaguar Land Rover’s longest-serving suppliers, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its association with the automotive company.
JVM, a designer and manufacturer of aluminium die-castings with sites in Tamworth and Worcester, first supplied pulley castings for the Rover P4 in 1963.
Now supplying die-castings for across a range of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, JVM marked the 50-year milestone by presenting JLR purchasing director Ian Harnett with a golden memento at the firm’s Whitley headquarters.
Mr Harnett said the growth of JLR is parallel to that of its suppliers across the UK automotive supply chain.
“Jaguar Land Rover has seen its business grow significantly in recent years and it is great to see our suppliers growing to support us, particularly one which has had such a long association with our great British motoring brands,” he said.
Wayne Murcott, joint managing director at JVM, said the company’s long association with JLR has enabled JVM to grow from a business employing 20 people in 1963 to one now employing more than 450 today.
He added another sign of the company’s progress is its ability to manufacture structural parts such as the F-Type B Pillar, which won the International Diecasting Award in 2013.
The B pillar was designed in collaboration with JLR to help reduce the Jaguar F-Type’s cost of assembly and carbon footprint, giving greater ductility and mechanical properties than conventional high pressure aluminium alloys.
Mr Murcott added: “Innovation is a key factor in remaining competitive in the automotive market, and we are working with Jaguar Land Rover and universities, which include Birmingham and Brunel, to research new materials which will dramatically reduce costs for automotive and aerospace companies and enable them to bring manufacturing back to the UK from overseas.”
