Burcas lands Post award as business takes off
Posted : Tue 24th Jun 2008 @ 10:05Black Country engineering firm Burcas - the winner of this month's Birmingham Post Business Award - is on the cusp of a handful of lucrative deals in the aerospace sector. And managing director Mike Burrows said moving into "high-value" work was the only way traditional manufacturers could expect to prosper in increasingly difficult economic times.
The company began life in the 1940s making parts for the automotive industry, but has moved into the aerospace industry. Last year it secured £1 million in orders for landing gear parts for the Airbus 330. It is now hopeful of signing a new deal with Brazilian plane manufacturer Embrauer. It is also at tier one status with Wolverhampton based GE Aviation to make gears.
Mr Burrows said the company had been forced into the aerospace sector by the disappearance of major automotive customers from the region over the years. But he added the move had ended up being a benefit to the company in difficult economic times, with its niche products less vulnerable to market turbulence. "We haven't walked away from motoring, we still make parts, but our major automotive customers such as BritishTimken have closed, and subsequently Champion Sparkplugs.
"It's been a tough transition, we have had to keep constantly evolving, that's all I ever seem to have done." He added the move had kept the business going as the effects of the credit crunch started to bite on the manufacturing and engineering sectors. "In certain areas there is a huge downturn," he said. "A lot of our suppliers are living hand to mouth. But basically because we have targeted what we call niche areas we hope that's going to stand us in good stead. In today's market you have to be more and more specialised and you have to have skills you didn't have a few years ago.
"That's the only way you can make high-value work. All the low-value production has gone to Poland and the like."
Despite the success of its aerospace work, Handsworth-based Burcas - which employs about 80 people and has a turnover of roughly £6 million - still has a diverse range of operations.
It has successful divisions making paper-cutting knives and precision tools. And it looks likely to move into another industry soon, with the expected signing of a £160,000 deal with Bombardier trains to make pins for new carriages. Mr Burrows said the hardest part of the transition into new high-value sectors had been securing the necessary qualifications and finding ways to pass on the increased insurance costs made necessary by the complex work. It was helped in the transition to aerospace work after going on the Manufacturing Advisory Service West Midlands "Lift Off" programme to improve performance. The aerospace success of the business meant it was invited to join AWM's aviation Cluster Opportunity Group (COG), to advise on strategic direction for small businesses working in the industry.
The main sponsors of The Birmingham Post Business Awards are Intercity Mobile Communications and Churchill Vintners in association with Champagne Taittinger. Flybe and Aston Business School provide further support, along with Biz-tv, part of Aston Media at Aston University, which produces a business video of each monthly winner worth £2,500. And Warwickshire County Cricket Club provides a private box for one of their day/night games. Yorkshire Bank sponsors the end of series presentation event and also provides its city centre meeting facilities as a prize for the overall winner.
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