We have a very proud history of providing apprentices with a great foundation to build their careers in the automotive industry. We currently have an amazing cohort of young and bright apprentices undertaking placements across different departments within the business, providing support and very often going the extra mile to make sure Sertec remains a successful and competitive company within the automotive industry.

There are two apprentices in particular that have been stand out performers over the last year and as a result, we are very pleased to announce they have been shortlisted for the 2021 Made in the Midlands Apprentice of the Year Awards, due to take place on Thursday 15^th July.

Robin Campbell and Will Moore have been exemplary apprentices since joining Sertec, achieving Distinctions continuously in all their BTEC assignments, producing some of the highest quality NVQ work their Assessor has ever seen and impressing in all their placements they have completed. They are both due to complete their apprenticeships this year and if either of them are the winner of the Apprentice of the Year Awards, it will be well and truly deserved.

Whatever the outcome, we are extremely proud of Robin and Will and we are sure they have bright and successful careers ahead of them with Sertec.

Sertec, the global car parts manufacturer, has appointed a new Vice President of Human Resources.

Natalie Carter joins Sertec with a wealth of experience and knowledge in senior HR roles and will lead on HR strategy as part of a wider implementation of the businesses’ five-year strategic roadmap.

The Sertec role is the latest senior HR role in a 15 year plus career during which time Natalie has held progressively Senior HR roles in the service and manufacturing sector. Natalie joins us from Collins Aerospace where she held the role of Associate Director of HR and Employee Relations.

Natalie, said: “I am excited to join Sertec in my new role as Vice President of Human Resources.

“As Sertec expands into the electric vehicle sector and key European markets, I relish the opportunity to join the senior team at such a strategically important time for the business.

“I will be looking to utilise my prior experience in policy deployment to ensure the HR focus is strategic in its nature and that we work with the business in partnership to implement the five-year roadmap.”

Grant Adams, Group CEO at Sertec, said: “We welcome Natalie to the business and look forward to utilising her experience and knowledge to deliver our People strategy within the business.

“Natalie will play an integral role in helping to implement our five-year organisational roadmap, a key strategic driver for our expansion plans and business success going forward.

“We have some exciting times ahead and with Natalie and other recent senior appointments, we are now better equipped than ever to take full advantage of our position in the automotive sector.”

Sertec Group Ltd operates across eight sites, with six manufacturing sites in the Midlands in the UK, one manufacturing site in Aszar, Hungary and one in Hückeswagen, Germany, plus a tooling technical centre based in Dongguan, China.

Sertec, the global car parts manufacturer, has appointed a new Vice President of Quality and Environment to oversee sustainability in its business operations.

John Swinhoe has been appointed to the key strategic role and in doing so makes a welcome return to Sertec, having enjoyed a previously successful stint as Operations Director at the Coleshill based company’s, Hungarian plant. 

Having spent two years overseeing operations at Sertec’s plant in Ászár, Koztarsasag, Hungary, John took up post as one of the senior management team at tier one automotive supplier WHS Plastics, based in Sutton Coldfield, last year. 

In returning to Sertec, John brings with him over 35 years of experience and knowledge from working in the manufacturing and engineering sector, with over 25 years of that time spent in tier one automotive supplier roles. 

In his new role at Sertec, John will have responsibility for the implementation of group processes and methodologies that deliver sustainable business performance and excellence and play a key role in the continuous improvement of current and future business ventures.

John said: “It’s great to be reunited with the Sertec team and I am really looking forward to starting the new role and the responsibilities that come with it.

“The two years I spent working in Hungary running the Sertec plant were among my career highlights to date, so it’s great to have the opportunity to return to Sertec at such an exciting time for the company.

“I am really looking forward to the challenge ahead and playing my part in further enhancing the company’s reputation for manufacturing excellence and establishing Sertec as a key player in the EV sector.”

Grant Adams, Group CEO at Sertec, said: “John is an excellent addition to the team. 

“We know from John’s time overseeing our Hungary plant that he is an experienced and highly capable operator, and his return is a welcome one at a strategically important time for the business. 

“We have some exciting times ahead in 2021 and with John and other recent senior appointments, we are better equipped to take full advantage of our position in the automotive sector.”

Sertec Group Ltd operates across eight sites, with six manufacturing sites in the Midlands in the UK, one manufacturing site in Ászár, Hungary and one in Hückeswagen, Germany, plus a tooling technical centre based in Dongguan, China. 

Sertec, the global car parts manufacturer, today announced the appointment of Susan McKenna as the company’s new Chief Finance Officer (CFO), as it looks to expand into UK and European electric vehicle (EV) markets.

Effective January 4th, 2021, Susan will oversee the company’s global finance and IT Teams, as well as management of cash flow, financial planning, treasury activities, and profitability.

Susan brings a wealth of cross-industry experience in accelerating companies’ growth and strategic business planning as well as the financial planning and controls and corporate governance. She has also held executive positions in a wide range of functional areas including finance, general management, and customer services. In more recent times, Susan has served as Vice President General Manager with profit and loss responsibility for entities in the UK, Europe, Asia region and North America.

Susan’s appointment will add to the Board’s diversity and experience. Alongside her fellow board members, Susan will be at the forefront of implementing a long-term, strategic plan for Sertec to increase its share of UK and European markets. This will include the company preparing for significant growth, accelerated through opportunities offered by EV and lightweight technology.

Susan, said: “I can’t imagine a more exciting and challenging time to join the Sertec family and to partner with the team in building the business through these very testing times”.

“With its innovation and points of difference in relation to EV and lightweight technologies, Sertec has a very bright future and I look forward to contributing to its future business successes.”

“We are excited Susan has chosen to join our growing team,” says Grant Adams, CEO of Sertec. “The wealth of experience and knowledge she brings to the role will benefit the business as we move into a new chapter of the Sertec story”.

“We have some exciting times ahead in 2021 and with Susan and other recent senior appointments, we are better equipped to take full advantage of our position in the automotive sector.”

Sertec Group Ltd operates across eight sites, with six manufacturing sites in the Midlands in the UK, one manufacturing site in Aszar, Hungary and one in Hückeswagen, Germany, plus a tooling technical centre based in Dongguan, China.

BGF – the UK’s most active growth capital investor – has announced a further £4 million investment in Midlands headquartered automotive components manufacturer, Sertec Group as the business looks ahead to European growth. 

Since BGF’s initial investment in 2016, the business has expanded its customer base, invested in new technologies and established a strong European footprint through acquisitions and new hires.

This year, Sertec has secured significant new contract wins in the electric vehicle (EV) and lightweight technology markets using it’s engineering expertise and innovative technology know how. The company has recently completed a world-class battery component assembly line in Coleshill.

Grant Adams, CEO at Sertec said: “We’re ambitious about continuing to grow the company and BGF’s additional investment allows us to build on the strong foundations we’ve put in place. We start 2021 with a strong balance sheet and exciting growth prospects in Europe underpinned by our recent hires. Juergen Schreiner joins as European Sales Director and Antal Mihalicz has been appointed Managing Director in Sertec’s Hungarian operation.

“Our technology positions us at the forefront of the sector to take advantage of the huge potential presented by the growing EV market in the UK and Europe.”

This investment news follows the appointment of Nick Sanders as Non-Executive Chair in May 2020.  BGF investor Tom Horton said  “BGF’s renewed commitment to Sertec is testament to the strength of the business’ leadership and ongoing investment in new technologies. In a very challenging year, the company has continued to secure significant, long-term contracts as it expands its customer base. We look forward to working with the team in its next chapter of growth.”

Sertec Group Ltd operates across eight sites, with six manufacturing sites in the Midlands in the UK, one manufacturing site in Aszar, Hungary and one in Hückeswagen, Germany, plus a tooling technical centre based in Dongguan, China.

DLA Piper advised the Company and Shoosmiths acted for BGF.

Sertec, the Global automotive component supplier, has appointed a new Managing Director for its Hungary operation, as the company gears up to expand into European electric vehicle (EV) and lightweight technology markets.

Antal Mihalicz joins as Managing Director in Sertec’s Hungarian territory and brings with him a wealth of senior experience within the sector. He has over 30 years of automotive manufacturing experience including Operations Director at Novares, Managing Director of Hella Manufacturing in Hungary and Managing Director of Schefenacker Automotive Parts, which counted Audi, BMW, Ford, and Toyota amongst its client base.

Antal’s appointment is part of a long-term, strategic plan for Sertec in the region, with the company preparing for significant growth, accelerated by opportunities offered by EV and lightweight technology.

Antal, said: “I feel privileged to join the Sertec board and have the opportunity to play my part in growing the company’s share of the European market.

“I am looking forward to working with fellow Board members to implement our long-term plan for the region, showcasing Sertec’s innovation and point of difference and maximising the opportunities available to us within the EV and lightweight technology sector.

“There are huge opportunities for expansion and I look forward to working with the Sertec board and the wider team to deliver our business vision for the region.”

Grant Adams, CEO at Sertec, said: “Antal’s appointment is a significant addition to our Board, bringing with him new experience and skills that will help complement our existing team.

“He will play an integral part in establishing and growing our European footprint, as we seek to capitalise on the huge opportunities afforded by what we see as a ‘new industrial revolution in our sector. There is huge investment in the region for EV technology, including large manufacturers such as Audi, and we aim to be at the forefront of this new wave of innovation and development.

“We welcome Antal and look forward to working with him to achieve our vision for the business in the Hungarian territory and the wider EV and lightweight technology market.”

Sertec Group Ltd operates across eight sites, with six manufacturing sites in the Midlands in the UK, one manufacturing site in Aszar, Hungary and one in Hückeswagen, Germany, plus a tooling technical centre based in Dongguan, China.

Sertec, the Global automotive component supplier, has appointed a new European Sales Director, as part of its plans to expand into European markets.

Juergen Schreiner joins in his new role with extensive sector experience, spanning over 25 years in the automotive industry. His previous roles include Global Sales Marketing Director at Metsala, Director of Sales at Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies and Senior Director Sales Europe at Emcon Technologies.

Juergen’s appointment is part of an overarching business development plan to increase Sertec’s market share in the next three years. At the forefront of this expansion strategy is a plan to open a new technical sales centre in Germany.

The new technical sales centre will be headed up by Juergen, who will lead a sales team focused on meeting specific customer needs and driving sales across the European market.

Juergen, said: “Sertec are very focused in their ambitions for the European market, with a clear vision for what they want to achieve and with the capability to offer the complete package to their customers.

“They have extensive coverage of the European mainland markets, are at the forefront of EV technology and possess premium automotive insight borne out of years of experience in the industry.

“With such a clear set of ambitions and a well-established automotive engineering heritage, I feel privileged to be joining Sertec and look forward to playing my part in delivering their plans for expansion.”

Ben Higgins, Group Commercial Director at Sertec, said: “Juergen is an excellent addition to the team and the experience and knowledge he brings will prove to be a great asset in helping to take the business forward.

“He will lead our sales team from the new technical centre in Germany and will be at the forefront of our business development strategy.

“We welcome Juergen to the Sertec team and look forward to working with him to achieve our business vision.”

Sertec Group Ltd operates across eight sites, with six manufacturing sites in the Midlands in the UK, one manufacturing site in Aszar, Hungary and one in Hückeswagen, Germany, plus a tooling technical centre based in Dongguan, China.

Good morning Sertec Family,

I am pleased to announce the re-opening of our Plants starting on Monday 11th May and after a long 8 weeks we can finally start to get back to some kind of normality.

I want to thank Peter Pugh and Colin Bennett especially, for their hard work over the shutdown period getting the plants ready for this phased re-opening of our facilities.

This week we began bringing back Plant Managers and small working teams to ensure we have followed Government guidelines and the plants are safe working environments for our people to return to the workplace.

I am aware of some of our employees including Board members who have also fallen ill and some resulting in hospital stays. I am pleased to say they are all recovering which is great news. It is a reminder of how serious this Virus is, and just because the numbers are going down it is still out there!

For those of you who are concerned about returning to work I assure you , that we have taken every possible precaution we can and some of our Unite stewards have viewed these changes and were pleased to see we have taken the necessary precautionary measures.

I would also reiterate the point we made in the last briefing that Manufacturing is not one of those sectors restricted by the Government to open, see below statement from Secretary of State:

‘Manufacturing is a critical part of our economy and I would like to be clear that there is no restriction on manufacturing continuing under the current rules ’

The Rt. Hon Alok Sharma
MP Secretary of State
Department for Business

Our Group Health and Safety Manager Colin Bennett has prepared a comprehensive booklet guide for everyone returning to work which you will be supplied with on your return. You will see changes to the working environment both in the offices and shop floor where we would ask you to observe and abide by these instructions please.

This is going to mean changes and support from every one of you with all of the changes and I ask you to consider your own part in keeping the workplace safe for you and your colleagues and all of our families.

We will continue with home working for staff where possible but also introduce a rota system, so people get some form of personal interaction.

Colin will be carrying out a risk assessment for all of the offices and we will use the month of May to determine a safe working policy.

You will know by now that not all of you will be returning to work and at the moment, we cannot guarantee how many of you will return and when. This is dictated by Customer demand and also if there any further changes to Government policy.

The Board will review this on an on-going basis by Plant and for Sertec Group employees by Department, but the output from those plans will be a number of you will remain on furlough.

It is unlikely demand will return for a considerable amount of time, and there will be inevitable actions we will need to take to protect the business.

We do not want to lose jobs, but it will be dictated by this demand and how fast that returns. Any changes and proposals will be communicated through the proper consultations with Unions and works committees.

We have a very viable company before this Global crisis impacted on our business and we have also won substantial orders for future business including the EV project.

I want to thank everyone for their support in these difficult times and the personal sacrifices we have all had to make financially to keep the business running.

Be assured we are doing everything we can to provide a safe working place for you all to return to work and putting together a business plan to safeguard the Sertec Group.

In the meantime, please stay safe and abide by the Government advice and the message is we will get through this.

Grant Adams
CEO

Good morning to everyone in the Sertec family,

It has been nine days now since the last update regarding the Covid-19 situation and a lot has changed in that period.

1) Operations – Since stopping production at all UK plants on the 24^th March we have been monitoring the Customer plans and schedules.  The impact of the overall Customer operational schedules changes means that all UK plants will remain closed until week commencing 11^th May 2020. This applies to all UK sites at:

SASB Heavy stampings & Wincaster House Operations, SLC Hams Hall, SAST Tyseley, SLS Aston, SPC Witton SSWF Redditch and Wincaster House Offices

Details of a phased return to work at all sites will be shared with all employees in the first week of May

There could be local variations to the general return date for specific projects. In this case individual employees will be contacted about a return to work on a different date to the general rule stated above

The Operations in Germany (SFB) are still ongoing but now operating on a reduced working week. Operations at the Hungary facility (SASH) are currently on stand down with the restart date still to be confirmed.

2) Furlough – The majority of our employees from all UK sites are following the Governments Job Retention Scheme which commenced on March 25^th 2020 following the closure of all sites on March 24^th 2020. The Company has concluded an agreement with the Unite Trade Union that supports both the business needs and ensures that the Government guidelines are followed.

3) Return to Work – As part of the new protection and safeguarding policy we will be reviewing the shift changeover and break time procedures at all sites in order to follow social distancing guidelines that are essential for the benefit of all employees. Each facility will be advised and will be party to the discussions to support the policy in due course.

4) Home Working – This process will continue for all relevant departments during the stand down period such as Payroll, HR, Commercial and Engineering. Personnel from other areas of the business may be required to attend work in the stand down period and individuals will be contacted as and when required.

5) Employee Welfare – We are aware of a small number of employees around the Group that have symptoms of the virus and are receiving appropriate medical care.

As valued members of the Sertec family we send our best wishes to everyone that is suffering ill health at this very difficult time and we wish everyone a speedy recovery in the coming days and weeks.

The up-to-date information as of today is that the employees affected are improving with several discharges from hospital, which is fantastic news and we sincerely hope that all employees can avoid the infection.

6) Help and Support – During this difficult time there could be ways that you could potentially ease any immediate financial concerns that you may have by contacting local councils, banks and building societies regarding payment holidays, plus you may need to cancel or defer memberships where the services are no longer available for you to use ie Gym membership, sky sports etc.

7) Developments –Sertec have registered with the British Government to support the development and supply of critical medical equipment (i.e. Ventilators) we are currently working with other British Companies to supply low volume structural components for these products. The project is at an early stage but we will dedicate time and effort into forming a partnership that can manufacture components that are critical to support our National Health Service.

We will keep you informed of the progress of this project in due course

8) Communication – We will endeavour to keep you informed by direct contact of any developments which will include any amendments to the ‘Return to Work’ plan as indicated above. It will assist this process if you are able to supply the business with your personal e mail address. Please supply your name, clock number, site and e mail address using HREnquiries@sertec.co.uk. Please also check the website – sertec.co.uk

Please ensure that you and your family members do your utmost to follow the Government advice on staying at home, social distancing as your contribution will help to save lives by restricting the spread of this terrible disease that has already affected so many families in our country and around the world.

The key factor throughout all of this very difficult period is that we all work together and on behalf of Board I want to thank you for your understanding and support. Please stay safe and we all look forward to returning to normal activities when the virus is under control.

Steve Moore
Group H.R. Director