The Lancashire-based company is a precision component manufacturer offering high quality components and sub-assemblies to customer specifications. It counts defence, aerospace and power generation as its most important sectors.
Despite a tough market, Bright Spark has expanded significantly in the last two years, growing each year by 21% and 55% respectively. It hopes to make sales of £2 million this year which would represent another growth burst of over 50%. As part of the Merc group, Bright Spark's parent company Merc Engineering UK has a turnover of £5 million, resulting in combined group turnover this year of £7 million.
Continuing to invest in difficult times has been absolutely key to Bright Spark retaining its competitive edge. The company has spent the year making major investments in CMM inspection equipment from Status Metrology and CNC machining centres, supplied by Mills CNC. “It was important for us to grow out of the recession and set ourselves ambitious targets,” explains commercial director Jon Hoyle. “As a result, although the market has been somewhat uncertain, we have probably had our best year, thanks to making investments in new machinery and more importantly the right people.”
He continues: “We are already making plans for our 2012 investments and this will most likely focus more on CNC turning. An order has already been discussed with Citizen Machinery for an A32 sliding head CNC lathe and we are in talks with Mills regarding a Puma CNC turning centre with live driven tooling.”
The company currently specialises in high speed horizontal machining and CNC turning and has produced parts as wide ranging as spares for the General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), to aircraft light housings and commercial airliner seating structures. Just like the rest of the Merc Group Bright Spark works in all types of materials ranging from brass and aluminium to Hastelloy, stainless and Nimonics.
The company has recently seen an upturn in sales enquiries for large volume, small diameter turned parts which is part of the reason why it plans to invest in the Citizen lathe. Parent company Merc Engineering has operated four of these machines since the late 1990s.
Bright Spark Engineering
www.brightsparkengineering.co.uk
Stand A17
