A German-owned manufacturing group has secured £12m from the European Investment Bank to support its six-strong factory network in the UK.
The investment, secured by Newton Aycliffe-based Gestamp Tallent Automotive, will support new investment to strengthen innovation and product development.
The six-factory network, which includes the Gestamp plant in Cannock, produces specialised chassis and suspension products for the automotive industry and supplies OEMs including Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover, Bentley, Toyota and Ford.
The company uses industry standards like Hydro Forming to allow it to make lighter and safer car components.
In terms of R&D, the company focuses on co-development with its customers, an area that is expected to show a significant increase in the coming years, and also on using advanced manufacturing and various material bonding processes.
Jonathan Taylor, Vice President – European Investment Bank, said: The European Investment Bank has a strong track record supporting investment to strengthen the world class leadership of UK industry.
We are pleased to continue our cooperation with the UK automotive sector to finance significant new investment by Gestamp Tallent.
Over the last decade, the EIB has provided more than £2.6bn for transport, education, social housing, water, energy, healthcare and urban regeneration investment across the North-East alone.
Recent investments in the region has included the Rail Vehicle Manufacturing Facility in Newton Aycliffe that will build new Intercity Express trains; £100m has gone towards underpinning Newcastle Universityâs capital development programme; £330m has gone to help the development of the Nissan plant in Sunderland; while £250m has gone to Northern Powergrid, together with backing for 12 schools across the region.
Lending by the EIB last year totalled £5.6bn and represented the largest annual engagement since the start of EIB lending in the UK in 1973. This supported nearly £16bn of overall investment in 40 projects across the country. The European Investment Bank is directly owned by the 28 European Union member states, including a 16% share held by the UK government.
