Frank Dudley Limited (FDL), which employs 64 people at its Birmingham factory, won the contract to supply bumper finishes for Bentley’s Continental model.
This deal, along with significant body and white work for Sertec Group, is one of several recent ‘wins’ for the metal pressings and deep drawn component specialist. The company has seen sales rise 20% to £6m over the last twelve months.
“We’ve come a long way since my grandfather Frank started the business in his small shed in Birmingham,” explained current managing director, Grant Dudley-Toole.
“His approach of ‘getting products right first time’ is one that we have built our business around and has been crucial in helping us introduce lean manufacturing and world class quality and delivery performance – two important factors in us winning the recent contracts for Bentley and a major earth moving equipment manufacturer. 2018 has been a rollercoaster year with significant growth and lots of investment.”
Elliot Dudley-Toole, manager at FDL and 4th generation family member, continued: “Today, we operate from a 57,000 sq ft facility in Birmingham and have an array of presses from 30 tonnes to 630 tonnes on both progression and tandem lines.
“We have also invested over £200,000 into a nut insert machine, a new grinder and additional spot-welding capabilities to ensure we can manufacture volumes ranging from 50 components per batch to 15,000 parts per week.
“The recent purchases – combined with recruitment of a Buyer, Project Manager, Tool Maker and four apprentices – will give us the capacity to target £7m of sales by 2019, with a specific focus on growing our export work.”
FDL hosted a major celebration event to mark its 70th year of manufacturing in Birmingham. The evening helped raise £2000 to support the outstanding work of Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
