Member Article

Jaguar Landrover win sees Peterlee’s Mecaplast invest £3.5m in operations

Automotive parts manufacturer Mecaplast has invested over £3.5m in its operations following a new contract win from Jaguar Landrover.

The Peterlee-based firm, which will start making parts for Jaguar Landrover vehicles in early 2017, has purchased four new injection moulding machines, ranging from 800 to 2,300 tonnes, and formed a partnership with Access Training to upskill and develop its growing management team.

To facilitate its recent and projected expansion plans, Mecaplast has enlisted Gateshead-based Access Training to support eight of their employees through Advanced and Higher Apprenticeships in Management.

The Peterlee business has doubled in size in the last two years, going from 75 employees to 150 and doubling its turnover due to a significant contract win from Nissan to supply parts for the Qashqai.

David Cann, Plant Director, said: “We are looking forward to working with Jaguar Landrover and we have several other new contracts in the pipeline. The business is going from strength to strength.

“Our recent fast expansion required a restructure which saw the addition of new members of staff and changes of responsibility for others. We want our people to grow with the business and we are fully committed to investing in our staff.

“We needed training to develop new skills and to support our staff in personal development too. I have had experience of using Access Training in a previous role and they were my first choice to bring us the outcomes we are looking for.

“It’s very busy at the moment and the pace is set to continue as we expand further and for that we need first class Managers. I’m very encouraged with how the training’s going, everyone is very motivated and progressing well.”