UK-based specialist engineering company, Penso Group, has signaled its intentions to move into Asia and the Far East today, after announcing a strategic agreement with an Indian powerhouse.
Offering complete turnkey engineering services, Penso Group has joined forces with Pricol Technologies to open an offshore development centre to produce vehicle platforms and undertake niche vehicle builds for customers in the subcontinent.
The deal – signed by CEO Daniel Hurcombe – will open up a whole new international market for the firm, which currently provides concept design, feasibility analysis and advanced composite capabilities to clients involved in automotive, aerospace and rail.
Engineers from Coventry have been working with their counterparts in Pune to set up the facility and teams have been set up to work on existing and new projects.
Hurcombe, who set up Penso with David Roche in 2001, explained: “While domestic and European sales have trebled to nearly £20m over the past two years, we still haven’t really managed to take our expertise into the rapidly emerging economies of China and India.
“We have been searching for an international partner for some time and when we were introduced to the Pricol Group we knew we had found the right organisation. The firm shares similar values to ours and offers cross functional engineering expertise, access to new technologies and a 4000-strong workforce.”
He continued: “It will give us an immediate footprint in India and an excellent logistical base to go after new opportunities in the subcontinent and China. There will also be a host of cost advantages that will make us immediately competitive with clients.”
Bobby John, CEO of Pricol Technologies, added his support: “This partnership will provide both sets of clients with a competitive advantage by reducing product development costs and minimising the time to market.
“Our unique delivery model of providing high efficiency offshore engineering will also aid Penso in securing a whole new international customer base at a time when its new lightweight technologies are in demand.”
Penso is one of five manufacturers invited by UK Trade & Investment to present at its ‘Vehicle Lightweighting and Fuel Economy’ Seminar in Pune.
On Saturday, experts from the company will provide more than one hundred delegates from industry, government and academia with an insight into the advancements it has made in composite fibre production.
They will outline over £6.5m of investment at its two Coventry plants and the installation of modern new presses and plastic injection machines, which mean panels can be produced in minutes as opposed to hours.
Hurcombe continued: “We are moving closer to being able to offer composite production in medium volumes and this is proving extremely exciting for the car makers and aerospace primes. There’s no reason this technology – once proven – can’t be exported all over the world and our relationship with Pricol could make this a reality a lot quicker than if we did it on our own.
“It’s important to add that this partnership is not going to take production from our UK base…this is a strategic global decision we needed to make. The West Midlands is our home and we’re fully committed to growing here. We’ve just taken on 60 new staff and expect to swell the workforce even further from 205 to over 250 by the end of 2015.”