Advanced composites manufacturer Pentaxia has purchased a large manufacturing site on Alfreton Road in Derby to accommodate its rapid growth – 60% in the last 12 months.
The completion of the sale will see the family-owned firm move in the new year, from its home in Longbridge Lane to the six-acre site, which houses office space and 70,000ft2 of manufacturing space. A six-month programme to refurbish and upgrade the site will start immediately. The £1m investment in the site will include new manufacturing equipment which will double the firm’s existing production capability.
Constructed in the 1960s as the composite manufacturing facility for Rolls Royce, the site was at the forefront of advanced manufacturing until 2002. This deal will see the site return to its former glory as a centre of innovation and a composites hub for the Midlands.
Taking possession of the keys, managing director Stephen Ollier said: “This marks a big step forward in our company’s nine-year history. We’ve seen a rapid increase in demand for lightweight, high performance components from our blue-chip customers in the aerospace, motorsport and luxury automotive markets.
“We have grown more than 60 per cent in the past 12 months and to maintain that kind of growth we need a lot more space. It’s essential that we maintain the high quality and reliability that we’re known for, which results from completing every element of our work in-house and working very closely with our customers. Predictably meeting quality standards and delivery dates is just what major multinational companies need from suppliers like us. The new site is three times the size of our existing facilities, which gives us space to expand effectively and dependably.”
Derby-based Pentaxia was formed in 2008 and specializes in the manufacture of advanced composites for the aviation, motorsport, luxury automotive and general engineering markets. It is highly vertically integrated, carrying out nearly all operations from design through to the production of painted final products, in house. This gives the company the ability to manage complex projects on tight timescales to demanding quality standards.
Pentaxia is ISO 9000 and AS9100 accredited and has customers ranging from major aerospace companies, to front of the grid F1 teams and world-famous luxury car manufacturers.