Birmingham-based GB Precision (www.gbprecision.co.uk) is celebrating its 40th anni

versary this year.

The company, which specialises in the supply of complex tooling solutions to UK and overseas customers in a number of industries, has come a long way since it was started by Gerry Turner — father of current managing director Paul — in a converted stable behind the Selly Oak Institute in 1974.

It found a ready market for its engineering capabilities — in particular surface, cylindrical and form grinding — and soon outgrew its original premises, moving first to Balsall Heath, then to its current factory in Sparkbrook, which was extended in 2006 to double the available floor space.

Paul did not originally intend to join the family firm. Having studied technical drawing and metalwork, he embarked on a career in computing, but it was clear by 1994 that his skills could make a difference to the company.

Its first CNC machine was purchased soon after his arri-val, and this was the start of an on-going strategy of investment in technology. The company became known for its willingness to tackle jobs that other sub-contractors would not touch, saying: “If you can’t do it, give it to GB Precision.”

The company continues to meet challenges with the latest technology — including an automated cell that features a Roders high-speed machining centre served by a robot, its third high-specification Studer grinding machine and a fully equipped metrology department.