£750k expansion complete at Roadlink

Roadlink has invested nearly £750,000 in the two new buildings at Strawberry Lane on the Planetary Industrial Estate.

It began operation from the 3,600 sq ft facility just after Christmas and was officially opened last week by the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders(SMMT), Michael Hawes.

The family company has been at its current site since 1990 but had run out of room to expand within its existing facility where it previously carried out the caliper remanufacturing for more than a decade

Chairman David Sedgley said the business had first looked at relocating and then chose to buy adjoining land so that it could stay local.

"We expect to grow and take on 10 to 15 more workers over the next three to four years as the business continues to grow," he added.

He said that help in finding the funding had come from NatWest, the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership and Sandwell Council which had helped it access a European grant for the project.

Roadlink has grown since 1989 from employing 12 to now having more than 60 workers – 30 of whom are employed in remanufacturing.

Joint managing director Keith Sedgley said that more space had been needed for the caliper work to enable capacity to be stepped up.

Roadlink also remanufactures brake shoes for commercial vehicles and supplies them to companies involved in distribution across the UK and in Europe. Keith Sedgley said Roadlink was seeing an expansion in exports and had the capability of quadrupling production with the new facility.

The used air and hydraulic calipers are now assessed in a core yard, then taken into the strip area where they are extensively cleaned and checked to establish which parts have to be replaced.

The calipers are spray painted with anti-corrosion paint before they go to the build area where they are put back together with all the new parts that are needed. Each caliper is thoroughly tested before being sent out to customers.

The process can be completed in as little as two hours and the new facility is in operation Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5.30pm.

Roadlink is currently able to remanufacture 134 different types of caliper and is constantly researching and developing so that the range can continue to grow.

The expansion of the brake caliper remanufacturing facility will also help to drive business to the surrounding area, as customers throughout the UK and abroad visit the Roadlink site on Strawberry Lane.

Roadlink is one of the UK's leading suppliers of braking products for commercial vehicles and buses and also suppliers a wide range of pads, discs and drums.

David Sedgleysaid: "The Wolverhampton area is an accessible hub for businesses throughout the UK and we are delighted to unveil our new facility in such a great location.

"This launch will not only create job prospects for the local community, but it will continue to cement Roadlink's position as one of the largest commercial vehicle parts remanufacturing companies in the UK."

With Roadlink's distribution and remanufacturing processes audited and approved to ISO9001 international standards, together with ISO14001 and its 'Investor in People' status, the company is able to confidently demonstrate its first-class range and service, from production, right through to sales.

He praised the hard work of the Roadlink team and said the company, which has Investors in People status, placed a high priority on training to ensure staff had all the skills that it needed

Helen Arthur, joint managing director, said: "We expect to create a significant number of new jobs over the next three-to-five years following this expansion of our remanufacturing facilities. Staff joining Roadlink will benefit from high quality training and development in line with IIP principles, this accreditation having been held continuously for more than 15 years."

Roadlink International also has a second business Capus UK in Kent which employs 10 and specialises in the supply of technical and safety critical parts for trucks, trailers, buses and coaches.