Motherwell-based MB Aerospace buys Devon factory

A Lanarkshire engineering firm has bought a Devon factory, increasing its global workforce to more than 1,400.

MB Aerospace has taken over Centrax Turbine Components in Newton Abbot. The Gas Turbines division remains part of the family-owned Centrax Group.

The Devon components firm, which employs 430 people, has been supplying engine parts for nearly 70 years.

It has developed a specialism in rotating components in the compressor and turbine sections of aero-engines.

It will continue to supply components which require automated machining, grinding and robotic polishing.

Shared values

Centrax supplies Rolls-Royce, Snecma and Solar engine-makers, which in turn supply Airbus, Boeing and Embraer manufacturers.

MB Aerospace, which has its headquarters in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, now has manufacturing in Connecticut, Michigan and Poland, as well as UK plants.

A majority stake in the Scottish firm was taken by Blackstone private equity in 2013, and the Centrax deal is the first major one since being backed by that additional funding source.

Robert Barr, Centrax chief executive, said: "In MB Aerospace, we have found a custodian which shares our values and commitment to the region, as well as the significant pool of high-tech manufacturing expertise we have built up through time".