Arrowsmith Engineering soars to second King’s Enterprise Award win after export sales boom
Arrowsmith Engineering (Coventry) is flying high again in export markets after we were
announced as an International Trade winner in the latest King’s Award for Enterprise list.
The company, which is part of the rapidly growing ASG Group, has seen overseas sales
rocket by nearly 400% following the pandemic, with orders now accounting for 35% of our
annual £7.6m turnover.
Precision components manufactured at our Bayton Road factory in Coventry are sent to
global customers in China, France, Germany, Singapore and Spain for end use in aerospace
engines, landing gears and air frames.
A strong investment in new technology and robotics, coupled with the creation of ten new
jobs, has given us the capacity and capability to win work against rivals ten times our size.
Plans are now in place to build on strategic partnerships with Incora, ITP, Mecachrome,
Parker-Meggitt and Rolls-Royce to take annual sales past £25m over the next two years.
This should result in the creation of a further 15 jobs in the UK.
Jason Aldridge, Managing Director of Arrowsmith Engineering, commented: “It has been
some turnaround from the very depths of despair during Covid to the renaissance we are
seeing now and in the future.
“Civil aviation – a major market for us – literally dropped off the cliff (40% reduction) with the
pandemic and we had to show good old-fashioned resilience and a fair bit of business
innovation to get through it.”
He continued: “We also moved with changes in the sector with the location of customer
production facilities switching. Thanks to our technical expertise, our ability to add value in
design and the financial strength of the ASG Group, we were able to secure contracts in new
countries, as well as securing one of the biggest orders to supply parts for the German-built
jet plane project called ‘Pearl 700’.
“All of these reasons have contributed to our outstanding short-term export growth and led to
us winning the International Trade King’s Award for the second time in our history. It’s a real
landmark moment for us.”
Arrowsmith Engineering, which has recently been reaccredited for the Silver SC21 supply
chain award for quality and delivery performance, is continuing its quest to get more female
engineers involved in aerospace.
A recruitment push has seen women make up nearly a quarter of our workforce and it’s a
figure we want to continue through more work with local schools, colleges, and universities
and by using existing engineers as mentors to showcase what women can achieve in industry.
Jason concluded: “The King’s Award will definitely help us with recruitment, especially when
you consider we are competing with some major carmakers and aerospace primes locally.
“The process is one of the most stringent in business and I’m delighted for our wonderful
staff. Yes, we have invested heavily in the best technology, but our people are still our
greatest asset and selling point. This Award is for them.”