Coventry-based engineering firm MNB Precision has earned a place in the Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100. The family-owned business ranked 30th in the prestigious league table of British private companies with the fastest growing sales. On the back of adopting a new customer-focused business model, MNB Precision saw sales rise by an incredible 76% over the last 3 years. The award-winning firm exemplifies the best of British manufacturing and joins 15 other Midlands businesses on the list which together employ more than 5,100 people.
The 24th edition of the Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 league table was published on 6 December as an 8-page supplement with the newspaper’s business section. This is the first year that MNB has made the ranking, having demonstrated meteoric growth through investment in its service offer and continuous business improvement.
The family business has provided precision engineering solutions for four decades. The firm operates primarily within the oil and gas markets and despite several sector downturns, has prospered by adapting to the changing needs of customers and putting them at the heart of the operation.
In 2015, MNB’s third-generation leadership team began working with Aston University’s Advanced Services Group on its servitization programme. It consolidated its operations onto a single site, increased capacity through acquisition and invested in a range of in-house services, including Non-Destructive Testing, shot peening and spark eroding.
The business has spent £3.5m on new tooling and machinery over the last four years and customers can now access an end-to-end engineering service to reduce their costs and lead times. The move has boosted competitiveness and seen the Coventry business boost turnover from £3.3m in 2016/17 to more than £18m in the last financial year.
This success has won the company a host of awards, including The Insider Made in the UK Awards for Manufacturer of the Year (Under £25 million turnover) and Small to Medium-sized Business of the Year at The Lloyds Bank National Business Awards.
MNB has built a reputation for providing bespoke engineering solutions and the business was eager to apply its expertise through the Covid crisis. MNB worked with Dyson on the Ventilator Challenge and provided more than 500 parts for the pre-production run. The Sunday Times ranking appeared within a special Covid-19 edition and businesses like MNB were praised for their role in helping the NHS meet the challenge of the pandemic.
MNB Precision Managing Director, Luke Benton, said: “It is a huge honour to have made it into the Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100. It is testament to the hard work and ingenuity of our staff, and I want to give every one of them my heart felt thanks. Their dedication came to the fore during the Ventilator Challenge and we have proved that however tough things seem, it is incredible what can be achieved by striving towards common goals.”
