VTL Group, a manufacturer of precision engineered components for the automotive industry, has received a further £1.5m investment from growth capital provider Business Growth Fund (BGF), alongside loan funding from HSBC.
BGF has now committed a total of £5.5m in the business, following an initial investment in September 2013.
VTL said the funding would be used for a capital investment programme ahead of commencing an eight year project to supply engine components through Ryobi UK to Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) for use in its new engine platform – the first Jaguar engine designed and built in-house since the late 1990s.
From its manufacturing sites in Huddersfield, VTL will commence supply of components to JLR’s new £350m factory in Wolverhampton in the second half of 2016.
Bruno Jouan, chief executive of VTL, enthused: “The cam carrier project is a significant win for the business, and for British engineering. We’re delighted to be working with JLR on what is an incredibly exciting project.”
BFG’s regional head of the north, Andy Gregory commented: “BGF has now backed 23 manufacturing firms in the past three years, including VTL Group. These companies are critical to the UK economy and our global competitiveness, and their success depends on having the right infrastructure in place to help them implement their growth ambitions.
“BGF is committed to providing long-term, patient support of our investee companies, and we are able to provide further capital following our initial investments in the businesses we back. In 2014, we provided £37m in follow-on equity capital, in addition to £176m initial investments.”
VTL is one of the UK’s largest precision contract manufacturing businesses within its specific niche areas of turbo and transmission components. The core end users of commercial vehicles and passenger cars are growth markets and VTL says it’s well positioned to capitalise on this with its technical expertise and world-class facilities. Existing customers include Cummins, Toyota, Renault, Nissan, Delphi, Ryobi, JLR and Schaeffler.