Fine Tubes celebrates 60 years in Plymouth

AMETEK Fine Tubes is marking 60 years since moving to purpose-built premises in Plymouth, Devon, in 1962.

The business was originally founded in Surbiton in Surrey in 1943.

Fine Tubes has enjoyed many successes and achievements since its founding, with many of them originating from its 51,000ft² facility in Plymouth. As well as a large number of business milestones, Fine Tubes employees have raised an impressive £17,000 for local charities over the past four years.

In 1965, the business manufactured AM350 tubes for the Concorde programme, while 1977 saw Fine Tubes make major strides in the nuclear field by developing 20/25 Nb nuclear fuel cladding tubes.

Over the years that followed, Fine Tubes expanded into new and ambitious projects, including seamless titanium 3AI/2.5V tubes for aircraft hydraulic systems, clean bore tubing for semiconductors, and data logging tubes for the downhole oil and gas markets. The manufacturer also pioneered several innovations within the medical sector, including titanium tubing for femur and tibia bone nail implants.

Fine Tubes was involved in several high-profile aerospace programs during the late 1990s and 2000s. Projects included supplying high pressure titanium tubing for the hydraulic systems of the Eurofighter, Airbus A380, and Airbus A350.

Other prestigious projects including developing 130km of cooling tubes for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in 2008 and, more recently, specialist titanium tubing for the Chemical Propulsion System of the Solar Orbiter project.

Dave Cawse, operations director at Fine Tubes, commented: “Fine Tubes has been operating successfully for almost 80 years and much of our success is attributed to the dedicated, loyal, and talented teams we have working at our production base in Plymouth. We are proud to have been manufacturing in Britain’s beautiful ocean city for 60 years and will be celebrating our diamond anniversary over the course of the year.”

Throughout its time in Plymouth, Fine Tubes has supported the local community, working closely with charities and community groups, local businesses, schools, and Plymouth University.

Fine Tubes
www.finetubes.co.uk