West Midlands manufacturer targets £50m turnover with £12.5m Lloyds investment

A Midlands manufacturer is looking to grow its turnover by 50 per cent to £50m in the next three years, supported by £12.5m of funding from Lloyds Bank.

Linecross is a UK engineer and manufacturer of moulded plastic components for vehicles in the prestige automotive, transport, leisure and off-highway markets. It is a supplier to some of the UK’s ‘most iconic’ vehicle brands, providing a broad range of exterior and interior parts from its two sites in Cannock and Rutland.

The business was purchased in 2003 by current owners, David Austin and Stuart Fry, as part of a management buyout. Since then, the two have grown Linecross’ turnover from £6m to more than £34m, and increased its team from 100 employees to 295. Through a strategy of innovation and investment the firm now has a plan to reach a turnover of £50m by 2026.

To realise this growth, the manufacturer has used the funding facilities from Lloyds Bank to purchase a range of “state of the art” plant machinery which will not only extend its capacity, but also provide a broader process offering, enhanced productivity, quality and reliability as well as energy efficiency.

As the machinery is purchased from Europe and paid for before delivery, Linecross will utilise asset finance, trade finance, a capital import finance facility and invoice finance totalling £10.5m, supporting the business’ cashflow to ensure healthy working capital and headroom are maintained.

The machinery investment is supplemented by the addition of another 25,000 sq ft factory unit adjacent to its existing Cannock facility and a number of key appointments to strengthen its management team.

Linecross is also investing in sustainability. The firm is installing 914 solar panels across its manufacturing site in Rutland. The panels will be capable of generating 325,000kwh annually, saving over 60 tonnes of CO2 each year, as well mitigating a proportion of the recent significant energy cost increases.

David Austin, chairman and financial director at Linecross, commented: “It has always been in Linecross’ DNA to grow through innovation, investment and collaborative relationships with our trading partners.

“Lloyds Bank and their focus on both UK manufacturing and the Green Agenda have proved to be the right financial partner to help Linecross realise both the next phase of our financial aspirations and support our transition to a sustainable future.”

Khush Johal, relationship manager at Lloyds Bank, added: “As a firm targeting rapid and sustainable growth, it’s essential that they maintain strong cashflow, enabling the business to maximise on commercial opportunities in their market. We’re proud to be by the side of such an ambitious privately owned UK manufacturer.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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