Left to right: Donna Watkins (BGWM in Dudley) with John Cope and Adam Holmes (both Cope Technology)A leading Black Country-based manufacturer of PCB assemblies is enjoying the fruits of employee-ownership after it reshored a significant product range.
Cope Technology, which employs 40 people at its facility on the Pensnett Trading Estate in Kingswinford, has successfully won back a contract that had left the UK for production in China after demonstrating world-class quality and speed of response that could not be matched in the Far East.
It is a significant victory for the 40-year-old firm, who supplies low- and medium-volume electrical assemblies for use in CCTV monitoring, traffic management, emergency vehicles, vending machines and automotive accessories. The manufacturer was recently sold by the company founders to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), giving staff the opportunity to gain a share and voice in its future direction.
This pivotal transformation has been supported by the
Business Growth West Midlands in Dudley Programme (BGWM), which has provided the new management team with strategic planning advice and support in employee engagement.
Production director Adam Holmes, who has been with the company for more than 20 years, explained: “We have a very strong history and track record in providing world-class contract electronic manufacturing, with all of our attention, capital investment and supply chain management dedicated to building assemblies for our customers. These core values will continue under the Employee Ownership Trust, but there is also a focus on how we modernise the business and continue to digitalise our operations so we can become even more efficient and potentially take our PCB knowledge into new markets.”
Fantastic resourceHe continued: “When you are taking steps into the unknown for some of us, that is when you need a good sounding board and Business Growth West Midlands has been a fantastic resource for us. Our business growth adviser has been with us on the entire journey, providing strategic advice around planning, structure, forecasting and, importantly, building a strong employee engagement strategy. The transition has certainly been smoother because of this.”
Cope Technology tapped into GROWTHmapper, a free business diagnostic tool, which SMEs can benefit from when participating in the Business Growth West Midlands in Dudley programme.
This helped the new management team identify strengths and weaknesses within its operations and prompted honest discussions among the team. The insights gained have been instrumental in taking the business forward, securing the recent reshoring win and accessing additional support and grants. Mr Holmes also attended a workshop on digital manufacturing and a factory tour hosted by Thomas Dudley, who is one of its customers.
This event not only provided practical insights into automation and digitalisation, but also enhanced the firm’s understanding of the end-product assembly process, bridging the gap between different stages of production.
Donna Watkins, business growth adviser for the BGWM in Dudley Programme, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with the senior management team at Cope Technology, which has built upon the honest communication they were having, taking our recommendations onboard and moving the business to the next level. What is really pleasing is the determination to get even better at what it does, and we will be helping it to achieve this through further one-on-one support and identifying potential grants for new equipment and technology.”
Business Growth West Midlands in Dudley, which is funded by Dudley Council via the
UK Shared Prosperity Fund, is supporting more than 600 companies based in the borough with advice from local business growth advisers.
Run by
Oxford Innovation Advice, the initiative delivers an information, diagnostic, brokerage, and account management service to support local businesses to thrive, innovate, and grow, while also supporting entrepreneurs to progress their ideas. A special focus is placed on helping firms in key local sectors and engaging with harder to reach groups, such as women-led and ethnic minority-led businesses.
Mr Holmes concluded: “I cannot praise the support we have had enough and would recommend other growing SMEs in Dudley to tap into what is on offer. The external expertise has been instrumental in helping us through a period of significant transformation and laying down the foundations for the next 40 years in our history.”