A fine week for Flintshire’s business community has seen a renewed confidence seep through Hawarden’s manufacturing industry ahead of what many experts have predicted will be a difficult year.

Last Friday saw Runcorn and Ewloe-based electrical engineering firm, LCA Controls, move to a new state-of-the-art facility in Hawarden as part of plans to dramatically boost productivity and support the company’s ambitious growth.

Ken Skates, AM for Clwyd South and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport, cut the ribbon on the new building for the manufacture of LCA’s leading control panels.

They supply a range of industries including nuclear, food manufacturing, power generation, water and utilities, oil and gas and pharmaceutical.

The opening came in the same week as Emirates signed a deal with Airbus for 20 A380 planes with an option for 16 more. Deliveries start in 2020.

At list prices, the deal is said to be worth $16bn with wings for the new aircraft being built at Airbus’ Broughton plant in Flintshire.

According to LCA’s managing director Alan Sheppard, the
35-year-old electrical and engineering firm has earmarked 2018 as a critical year for them.

“This new facility – combined with our investment in new manufacturing and design innovation – means we start 2018 with a clear vision for growth,” he said.

“Everyone at LCA Group is excited about the future. We’re delighted to be able to retain our experienced, committed team as part of the move and hope many more people will join us during 2018 as we now have the capacity to expand our workforce as part of the move to Hawarden.”

The expansion comes just a few weeks after LCA announced it is installing ‘UKfirst’ Rittal 3D design and manufacturing technology.

The investment in the new Rittal 3D laser machining centre – now housed in the Hawarden facility, the only one of its type in the UK and one of only seven similar machines in the world – will enable LCA Group to dramatically boost production of its leading stainless steel control panels.

“It’s a really exciting time for the business and we’ve received some fantastic advice and support from Business Wales and the Welsh Government,” said Alan. “It’s a great environment to do business, and an attractive place for our people and business to flourish.

“It was great news about the Airbus order and this part of North Wales has a good week. As an SME, we hope we can build into that supply chain because we think there is a prominent role that companies like ours can play.

“It’s a great place to work and there’s lots of opportunities out there. The pound is weaker which helps us export so if we can get the skills right, the environment right and the infrastructure right, everything is heading in the same direction which is pretty rare.

“Every decision carries an element of risk but we enter 2018 with confidence. We have big plans.

“In terms of Brexit, it’s there and it’s happening – but the devil is in the detail. We await to see how it happens and we’ll deal with that when it comes.

“We are seeing some interesting trends: a lot of our clients are
‘re-onshoring’ (repatriating work from overseas), a lot have reduced their staff and are now coming to SMEs to ask for support with manufacturing.

“People don’t like to go overseas to check their manufacturing is being done properly because they just don’t have the time so it’s important to have manufacturing just down the road in the UK.”

The new facility is based on the site of the former Davies Bakery, just a stone’s throw from Airbus and Hawarden Airport where more than 230 Lancaster bombers and 5,500 Wellingtons were built during the Second World War.

In tribute to the famous aircraft, the new building is named Gibson House, after Guy Gibson who led the 1943 Dambusters raid.

“We’re proud of the past – and you can also learn from the past,” said Alan.

“A unique selling point for us is that we can turn out these control panels in 24 hours. Reading about how quickly they built the aircraft here was a real inspiration.”

The assurance to existing staff that they will be retained along with the commitment to employ more specialist engineers and apprentices only completes the positive picture at LCA Group.

“What this new machine does is take away the low skilled, hard work that takes time,” said Alan.

“To cut a control panel now takes about eight minutes whereas before it took our guys about eight hours by hand. That’s the bang for our buck we’re getting and we hope this year we can employ somewhere up to
20-25 new staff because we know that the local area has good people.”

Mr Skates added: “This week has been spectacular for this part of the world. The announcement by Emirates was huge for the entire supply chain.

“This opening from LCA is supporting around 50 high paid jobs with machinery that is world class and this is a company right at the cutting edge of manufacturing and they are investing in equipment and skills.”

The Assembly Member echoed the confidence on display at LCA but warned that Brexit remained a cause of discomfort and worry for many similarly sized businesses.

“I’m bullish because we have the right type of approach between Government and business and training providers to equip the economy with the right people,” he said.

“There are a lot of economies around the world who are only just waking up to what is coming down the line but in this part of the world we have everything in place for the challenges to come.

“There is no doubt that Brexit is causing considerable uncertainty and anxiety for businesses but we’ve just announced a Brexit readiness fund that will help ease some of this by equipping businesses with what ever they need to see them through our exit from the EU.

“We still need the right deal and that is one that maintains the best possible trading arrangements with the single market while also allowing us to trade globally and be highly competitive.

“Companies like LCA are the ones that will tend to gain or lose the most from the Brexit and it’s essential that the Government doesn’t just look at Brexit through a London-centric lens.”