Global technology hub

Pictured: Douglas Dawson, Chief Executive of Liberty Industries Group, Ed Peel, Site Development Manager, Matt Western, MP for Warwick & Leamington and Anthony Blackwell, Chief Technology Officer of Liberty Engineering

A new Global Technology Centre being built by Liberty Engineering in central England promises to revolutionise operations in the UK.

March 25 this year marked the start of a new chapter in the United Kingdom’s automotive history as Liberty’s engineering business broke ground on a new £10m Global Technology Centre in central England.

Liberty is building a state-of-the-art 4600m2 engineering facility at Leamington Spa in the West Midlands to create a UK base for its R&D and engineering expertise. When fully operational, the facility will house more than 100 highly skilled technical professionals, including 40 new engineering posts that will be created by the investment.

It will help to drive Liberty forward, concentrating its engineering expertise and giving it a new R&D home where it can truly collaborate with clients and develop solutions for the future of mobility.

Plans to grow market share
The flagship centre will also support plans to grow Liberty’s market share in the automotive and other sectors by providing solutions ranging from design and prototyping all the way through to volume manufacturing. It will build upon Liberty’s existing expertise in the design and production of various automotive components and systems, while also growing its capabilities for alternatively fuelled and autonomous vehicles.

The investment underlines Liberty’s strong commitment to the future of the UK’s automotive sector. Liberty is already a Tier-1 supplier to several major automotive manufacturers domestically and overseas. The centre will also house Liberty’s Vehicle Technologies, 920Engineering (920E) and Shiftec businesses, renowned internationally for their advanced lightweight braking and control systems.

A milestone year
The new centre is expected to open in early 2020, a milestone year for automotive manufacturing at the Tachbrook Road site. Automotive Products Co, a forerunner of the modern business 920E, was founded nearby in 1920 and moved to the current Leamington Spa site in 1927. In its heyday in the early 1980s, the operation employed around 9,000 people.

For almost 90 years, the plant has been at the heart of the UK’s automotive industry, manufacturing braking and clutch components for vehicle and motor racing brands including MG, Riley, Daimler, Ford and Jaguar. Products developed here have been on the track of every F1 race since the early 1960s, and the plant continues to deliver performance products for the motorsport, niche and premium automotive segments. The business was acquired by Liberty in 2015.

The new Global Technology Centre is being built adjacent to the original plant. A small ceremony was held at the site to mark the beginning of construction, attended by Douglas Dawson, Chief Executive of Liberty Industries Group; Ed Peel, Development Manager for the site developers; Matt Western, MP for Warwick & Leamington and Anthony Blackwell, Chief Technology Officer of Liberty Engineering.