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Source: BusinessLive post
HARTLEPOOL, U.K. – TMD Friction has invested £2 million in its brake-pad manufacturing facility in Hartlepool, England, according to a report posted on BusinessLive.com.
The factory, a part of the company’s overall European operations, produces brake pads covering some 95 percent of the European automotive market, as well as the small truck, vans and emergency-vehicle sectors.
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Corona Crisis: TMD Friction Navigated 2020 Successfully
According to the post, the Hartlepool facility currently employs 449 people and despite the coronavirus pandemic it saw strong demand for its parts during the last quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021.
TMD Friction expects to be making around 120,000 parts per week throughout 2021.
To keep up with the demand the business has invested in hiring new staff and new machinery, spending £450,000 on a new paint line and £250,000 on state-of-the-art compressors.
But now the firm’s parent company TMD Friction Group is investing a further £2m to ensure it can continue to meet demand.
David Baines, TMD Friction’s CEO, said: “The Hartlepool site has grown massively in the past 12 months, despite the global coronavirus pandemic, and we now have the broadest capabilities in the group at Hartlepool.”
The investment logically continues the company’s continued success and plans for the future.
The company recently released figures for 2020, reporting near record results, despite the pandemic. Following a record first quarter in 2020, it said the year overall would probably have produced record numbers if not for the global Coronavirus outbreak.
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“We were very much on track and would certainly have had a record year if it hadn’t been for the pandemic” emphasises Clément de Valon, Executive Vice President Independent Aftermarket at TMD Friction. “As a premium manufacturer, we also provide premium service. Among other things, this means product quality as well as high delivery reliability and product availability. Our size allows us a degree of operational freedom and flexibility that some of our competitors do not enjoy. 2020 showed us that our flexible structures were one of the most important factors in successfully mastering the crisis.”