Erling Klinger Mini deal will create jobs

A new contract to supply BMW Mini will lead to new jobs and a multi-million-pound investment at Redcar-based Elring Klinger. The latter will become the UK’s only high-volume producer of under-body heat shields, which protect sensitive vehicle parts and stop them over-heating.

The decision to invest in the development of heat-shield products was a sound move by the company, which will celebrate 50 years in the North East in 2014. After suffering a dramatic drop in orders when the recession hit in 2008, it is now supplying specialist parts to some of the leading vehicle makers in the world, including Lotus, General Motors and Bentley. To support its latest deal, Elring Klinger will invest about £2 million in an embossing line, an automated press and specialist gluing equipment. It also plans to add at least 12 people to its 130-strong workforce.

Managing director Ian Malcolm said: “We have been supplying under-body heat shields for almost a decade, and we knew that we could offer a more cost-effective solution than parts sourced from outside the UK. “Establishing the facility to engineer this product on a large scale has been in the pipeline for some time, and we are delighted to now be part of the BMW Mini supply chain.”