Glasgow’s Castle Precision Engineering wins record aerospace order
Glasgow company, Castle Precision, has signed a contract valued at £80 million with Rolls-Royce on a six-year programme, continuing a 35-year relationship.
The new agreement is for the supply to Rolls-Royce of compressor cones, shafts, spacers, and turbine seal plates for the Trent family of aero-engines.
Yan Tiefenbrun, Managing Director of Glasgow-based Castle Precision, said: “To significantly grow our activity with Rolls-Royce, a giant in the global aerospace industry, is a privilege and a fantastic endorsement of the high-quality precision engineering work we deliver here in the UK.
“It is the biggest order in our 67-year history and the whole Castle Precision team is looking forward to furthering our relationship with this key customer, continuing to supply precision machined, critical rotatives.”
With the support of Sharing in Growth UK & Scottish Enterprise, Castle Precision has embarked on a business change journey that has transformed the organisation’s approach to people and productivity and delivered leaner operations. Introduction of manufacturing cells leading to major reductions in lead-time and improvements in productivity have underpinned the business’ ability to secure contracts of this scale in a globally competitive environment.
John Fitchett, Strategic Purchasing Executive, Rolls-Royce, said: “We are continuing to see increasing demand for our Trent engines worldwide and suppliers with the right skills and performance, such as Castle Precision, have an important part to play in supporting our growth story. We look forward to continuing to work with Castle Precision and building on a well-established relationship.”
Thanking Sharing in Growth for their support of Castle and some 60 other aerospace suppliers, Warren East, CEO, Rolls-Royce plc said: “There is a national need for competitive and match-fit suppliers who are able to win work from companies like Rolls-Royce. What Castle has done is what we all do every day: look at our costs and how we can reduce them, look at how we increase the quality of what we do, and look at how – through clear leadership, technical and business process innovation – we can make our business more competitive and win more orders. Some of this we do ourselves, some of this we do with partners, including Government, and the Government’s funding of Sharing in Growth has made a significant difference to our supply chain, as well as to others in the aerospace sector.
“A competitive UK supply chain is at the heart of the delivery of a successful UK industrial strategy – without it we will be letting down those suppliers and the companies that depend on them. Sharing in Growth in an integral part of the UK’s industrial strategy.”
Jane Martin, managing director of business service and advice at Scottish Enterprise, said: “We’ve been working closely with Castle Precision for over five years on key areas such as innovation and manufacturing, and we’ve also been supporting the company’s ambition to target new international markets.
“This record contract with Rolls Royce, won against fierce global competition, is a tremendous achievement for the company, and indeed the Scottish engineering sector.
“Castle Precision has clearly succeeded in establishing itself on the international market, and we look forward to working with the company as it leverages the exciting new opportunities, both domestic and international, that this contract will present.”
Economy Secretary Derek Mackay said: “I would like to extend my congratulations to Castle Precision on securing this contract with Rolls Royce. This is a really fantastic achievement by a Scottish company and the economic benefits of this contract will be far reaching.
“Through our enterprise and skills agencies, the Scottish Government has been pleased to support this company to achieve its growth plans. I look forward to hearing more about the company’s success as it grows and flourishes in the aerospace sector.”
Castle Precision employs 120 people and manufactures high precision critical gas turbine components for the aerospace industry as well as complex prismatic parts for the defence industry.
The company was selected for the Sharing in Growth programme in 2013. Sharing in Growth is the aerospace business transformation programme, set up by industry in 2013 and supported by the Regional Growth Fund and more than £150 million in private investment. It is endorsed by Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, Bombardier, GE, GKN, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, MBDA, Rolls-Royce, Safran and Thales because it is helping the UK advanced manufacturing supply chain to become more competitive and win a larger share of global aerospace contracts.
Said Sharing in Growth CEO Andy Page: “We are delighted with Castle’s success. Their sales have risen from £15 million in 2016 to £25 million this year. They truly exemplify why the Sharing in Growth programme is effective. We are helping some 60 aerospace companies, like Castle, beat the productivity challenge. By investing in business transformation companies make productivity and competitiveness gains to win more business. This gives them the funds to reinvest in people, technology and growth so that they win even more business. It’s a virtuous cycle.”