Specialist Manufacturing

Summary

Specialist manufacturing forms a core of Cumbria’s economy with businesses ranging from global defence giants producing gargantuan submarines to smaller enterprises creating tiny LED lights.

Defence giant BAE Systems has a base in Barrow and is responsible for delivering seven Astute-class submarines for the Royal Navy through its Submarine Solutions division and land-based armaments through its Global Combat Systems division. BAE remains a major employer in Cumbria and also supports numerous businesses and jobs through a vast supply chain of companies that have established in and around Barrow. Barrow-based Structured Software Systems Ltd creates computer systems for complex engineering projects for clients including NASA.

Meanwhile McBride, also based in Barrow, is a leading supplier of private label household and personal care products for some of Europe’s largest and more successful retailers. In nearby Ulverston Marl International Ltd and Forge Europa specialise in the design and manufacture of LED lighting, and form part of a thriving cluster of similar companies in the town and the surrounding Furness area.

Along the coast heading north, specialist manufacturers include Iggesund Paperboard, Europe´s leading manufacturer of paperboard is based in Siddick; and sportswear company, New Balance; whose commitment to British manufacturing has been rewarded with a Queen's Award for Enterprise. In Workington, Fortune 500 organisation Eastman, has been manufacturing chemicals, fibres and plastics for almost 40 years, while nearby Indorama makes Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) polymer for the soft drinks market.

Top bed manufacturer Sealy UK's springs are produced in Aspatria whilst in nearby Wigton is Innovia Films, producing high performance packaging and films. Cockermouth is home to James Walker & Company Ltd, world leader in fluid seals and gaskets and M-Sport the team chosen by Ford for the FIA World Rally Championship; winning in 2006 and 2007. Leading tyre manufacturer Pirelli has been producing tyres in Carlisle for 40 years, but Kendal-based Gilbert Gilkes and Gordon beats them all having started production of small hydropower systems back in 1853.

Specialist Manufacturing

Structured Software Systems Ltd – 3SL

Structured Software Systems Ltd – 3SL - is a specialist software development company and the UK's only developer of requirements management and systems engineering tools used to specify requirements for a system, design it, and test, commission and maintain that system. The company's 'Cradle' product is widely used in aerospace, defence, telecommunications, automotive, nuclear, pharmaceutical, process control, and manufacturing sectors. 3SL is the sole supplier of such tools to NASA for major space programmes. The company has a highly experienced team of systems engineers, software developers and technical support personnel and collaborates with government and industry to advance information processing technologies.

Specialist Manufacturing

Iggesund Paperboard

Iggesund Paperboard is a member of the Holmen Group and Europe´s leading manufacturer of high quality virgin fibre paperboard for use in the packaging and graphics sectors. The production facility in Workington, employs around 380 people and has a capacity of 200,000 tonnes of Incada paperboard per year. Incada is manufactured from fibre of known and traceable origin and production for markets worldwide is centred at the Cumbria site where pulp production is integrated with the paperboard mill. Incada products are widely used for book covers, greeting cards and the packaging of food, cosmetics, chocolate, pharmaceuticals and tobacco products.

Specialist Manufacturing

Robert McBride

McBride PLC, a global leader in the manufacture of household and personal care products sold under retailers' own brands, has recently invested in new production facilities at its factory in Barrow, where almost 200 people are employed. The factory makes household products, including washing powder and tablets, and dishwasher tablets. Chief Executive Chris Bull said in February: "We are still very much focused on growth. It is absolutely part of our programme. The only thing I can say specifically about Barrow is that recently we have increased our investment in the centre and we value it very highly."

Specialist Manufacturing

Sealy

In the small town of Aspatria, between Carlisle and the western Cumbrian coast, on the northern fringes of the Lake District, is the UK division of Sealy, the world's biggest bed manufacturer. Sealy has been a fixture in Aspatria for nearly 40 years, and some 500 beds are produced daily in the factory which boasts the most advanced manufacturing and product testing technology and employs around 400 people. Sealy is renowned worldwide for its advanced sleep technology which produces wonderfully comfortable beds that can be found in luxury hotels, cruise ships, and homes from celebrity mansions to the smallest bedsit.

Specialist Manufacturing

Pirelli Tyres

The Pirelli plant has been operating in Cumbria for more than 40 years. The advanced manufacturing process produces tyres for top-of-the-range cars such as Pirelli's winter, high performance, ultra-high performance and sports-utility vehicle ranges supplied to UK and European markets and leading car makers including Rolls-Royce, Volvo and Ford. The plant covers an area of 261,000m² employing almost 1000 people and has the capacity to produce around 10,000 tyres per day. It is Pirelli's largest tyre manufacturing plant in the UK, is one of the largest operated by the company in Europe, and is in line for substantial future investment.

Specialist Manufacturing

Forge Europa

Forge Europa has been at the heart of LED display and lighting revolution for over 15 years, developing, designing, manufacturing and supplying innovative LED lamps, displays and solid state lighting assemblies. The business has developed to provide solutions for specifiers on major projects across a range of business sectors, and also partners original equipment manufacturers to supply high quality components. A key element of the business model is to provide value engineered solutions, enabling customers to reduce energy, installation and maintenance costs, while at the same time creating a safe, low power consumption environmental solution.