Engineering news
Engineering consultancy Mira has spoken of some of the challenges it faces as it grows at a rate that could see turnover double in size over the next five years.
The firm, which operates a widely-used automotive test track as well as providing engineering expertise to car companies and the defence sector, is developing a technology park at its Nuneaton HQ. The park was given Enterprise Zone status by the government last year in an effort to attract more businesses to the area.
Geoff Davis, business development director at the company, said the headcount at Nuneaton was increasing, with more than 150 new staff joining in the last three years. Sales are also increasing by 15% a year, taking Mira to more than £40 million in revenue. “There is a five year plan to double the business,” Davis said.
But infrastructure could be a problem, he said. He described the A5 road as a “bottleneck – one of the biggest constraints we have”. His comments came as the Prime Minister highlighted roads as one area of infrastructure that might be improved by private sector involvement. Davis said: “We want to grow the size of the site so we have more people on it. There's clearly going to be more traffic. We therefore need to improve the A5 as it stands, and there also is the problem of getting enough power onto site.” The traffic constraint on the A5 has been recognised by government through the award of a £19.4m Regional Growth Fund grant to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council.
Enterprise Zone status will mean high-speed broadband for the Nuneaton site as Mira looks to increase the amount of business it wins overseas. It has established a sales office in Brazil, which it has identified as a key market, and expects that this will eventually have engineering capability. Mira has also established a joint venture in India.
Davis said the firm was benefiting from the upturn in the British automotive sector, and, especially, more work with Jaguar Land Rover, which announced it was hiring 1,000 more staff to produce the Range Rover Evoque last week. “That's very encouraging,” Davis said, “we are seeing a lot more growth at JLR in terms of both its engineering and test track requirements.” Mira's defence work had been impacted to some extent by the government's Strategic Defence Review, but it retained a leading position in the development and test of unmanned ground vehicles, Davis said.
Mira welcomed the announcement by George Osborne in the Budget earlier this week on the creation of a transport systems Catapult Centre as part of the government’s ambition to make the UK the “the technology hub of Europe”
The organisation has led a Midlands-based consortium which has been working with a range of stakeholders to establish such a centre. Mira, together with the intelligent transport systems centre for excellence InnovITS, and Coventry University, said they agreed with the government’s assessment that Catapult Centres, formerly known as Technology and Innovation Centres, will stimulate economic growth and innovation, giving UK businesses a technological edge in global markets.