British engineering firms are in increasing demand from major multi-national companies looking to bring more work back to the UK from Europe and China, according to the boss of a busy CNC machining business.

Paul Cobb, managing director of HPC Services in Ilkeston, is looking to capitalise on this trend after investing more than £600,000 in three new machines from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG — www.engtechgroup.com) to boost production.

The company is now operating 45 CNC milling and turning machines, employs 150 people (80 of them in the machining side of the business) and has a turnover of £8 million.

The company has invested in three Nakamura machines — two WT150s and a WT100 — and they have already speeded up production.

Mr Cobb said: “The WT150 has twin spindles and twin turrets, which makes it hugely versatile.

“As a sub-contractor you don’t really know what is going to come through the door on any given day, so these machines are almost the optimum for us.

"We mostly use them for making milled parts, on medium-size production runs from a few hundred parts to a few thousand — that’s the sweet spot for us.

"The Nakamura machines are incredibly reliable, accurate and very quick. The machine they are replacing turned out a part in 7min 35sec; they can do it in just 3min 50sec.”

Mr Cobb started HPC in 1997, and it is now part of the Hemlock Group, which was founded by his father in 1986.

He said: “Demand has been huge; we have seen no sign of a slowdown over the last year on any sides of the business.

“Better still, work is coming from a very wide range of industries.”

This includes work coming back from Europe and China and being placed with sub-contractors that can offer fast lead times and repeatable quality.