Jobs saved as manufacturer rescued from administration

From left to right: Andy Williams and Rebecca James (front) with some of the Cofast workforce

More than 60 jobs in the Black Country and South West have been safeguarded after the purchase of a critical supplier to the nuclear and defence sector. Rapidly expanding Clarity Plastics has purchased NDB Engineering and sister company Cofast from the administrators in a deal that will provide security and fresh investment for automation and a host of productivity improvements.

The business will trade as Cofast going forward and is setting its sights on leveraging new financial backing to attack multi-million-pound opportunities in decommissioning and big domestic naval projects. There is also significant potential to take its technical expertise and precision engineering performance into the aerospace supply chain, a market that demands safety critical products.

Kevin Robinson, chairman of Clarity Group, said: “Our latest purchase represents a perfect opportunity to increase our presence in two industrial markets that are receiving unprecedented investment. Both NDB Engineering and Cofast, leading providers of standard fasteners and engineering supplies, have excellent relationships in defence and nuclear that we want to maximise through increased efficiencies and investment in the latest technologies.”

He continued: “There are also a lot of shared synergies with Clarity Plastics and our other associated engineering companies that we will look to explore as integration into the group continues. Like always, the emphasis is on improving the customer journey by giving them access to technical expertise and production capabilities they can’t get anywhere else.”

Business as usual
Cofast will continue to operate from its purpose-built 22,000ft² manufacturing hub in Willenhall and at its 6,500ft² logistics centre located just minutes from the A38 in Plymouth. Together, the business employs 64 people and generates annual revenues of £7 million across its fasteners and turned-parts order book and a 20,000-strong engineered consumables list.

The manufacturing operation in the Black Country deals predominantly in bespoke customer applications, working in exotic alloys in sizes ranging from 1.6mm to 48mm. Components, which are governed by ISO 9001 quality accreditation, are sent to hundreds of customers in more than 50 different countries and across four continents.

Managing director Rebecca James, who will continue to run the business with technical director Andy Williams, said: “We have been delivering critical parts for the nuclear and defence sector for nearly three decades, with our turned parts and fasteners used in applications deployed by some of the world’s largest organisations. This trust in our manufacturing ability is something we can really drive by being part of a bigger group.”

She concluded: “There are lots of opportunities in new infrastructure projects and we are already working alongside our sister businesses to explore new markets where our engineering knowledge and machine capacity can make a difference - aerospace is a prime target. Hopefully, we can also open doors in the defence sector for Clarity Plastics to exploit.”