The funding, part of committed a total of £5.5m in the business by BGF, will be used for a capital investment programme ahead of commencing an eight year project to supply engine components through Ryobi UK to Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) for use in its new engine platform.
This is the first Jaguar engine designed and built in-house since the late 1990s. From its manufacturing sites in Huddersfield, VTL will commence supply of components to JLR’s new £350m factory in Wolverhampton in the second half of 2016.
VTL is one of the UK’s largest precision contract manufacturing businesses within its specific niche areas of turbo and transmission components. The core end users of commercial vehicles and passenger cars are growth markets and VTL is well positioned to capitalise on this with its technical expertise and world-class facilities. Existing customers include Cummins, Toyota, Renault, Nissan, Delphi, Ryobi, JLR and Schaeffler.
Bruno Jouan, Chief Executive, VTL, commented: “The cam carrier project is a significant win for the business, and for British engineering. We’re delighted to be working with JLR on what is an incredibly exciting project.”
Andy Gregory, Regional Head of the North, BGF, commented: “BGF has now backed 23 manufacturing firms in the past three years, including VTL Group. These companies are critical to the UK economy and our global competitiveness, and their success depends on having the right infrastructure in place to help them implement their growth ambitions.
“BGF is committed to providing long-term, patient support of our investee companies, and we are able to provide further capital following our initial investments in the businesses we back. In 2014, we provided £37m in follow-on equity capital, in addition to £176m initial investments.”
Mike Swift, Head of Corporate Banking, West and South Yorkshire Corporate Banking Centre comments: “Our priority is supporting ambitious businesses in Yorkshire. Having worked with VTL Group for a number of years, we are delighted to be supporting them in this exciting phase of their development.”
