Deal will create twenty new jobs and safeguard fifty more over the next twelve months.
A Coventry-based manufacturer that provides specialist modification to vehicles in the automotive, aerospace, defence and rail sectors has received a £1 million investment.
Penso City Vehicles will use the funding to invest in tools to modify the Mercedes Vito Tourer into a low emission taxi, including improving its turning circle and enabling side door wheelchair access. The deal will see the business create 20 new jobs and safeguard a further 50 in the next 12 months.
The firm, which currently employs more than 200 people at its new factory in Coventry, has more than 15 years’ engineering experience working with automotive firms; including Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin, Bentley, Ford and defence firm BAE Systems.
Michael Collins, Director of Penso City Vehicles, said: “Our work with Mercedes-Benz has established a strong partnership which we can build on. The investment has not only given us the ability to invest in new processes and technologies for the Vito Taxi, but it has also helped us to focus and develop our two other divisions, in lightweight composites and consulting to further grow the business.”
The funding has been provided from the £24m Tooling Funding Programme – supported by the Regional Growth Fund – which is designed to help toolmakers and component manufacturers fund the design, development and manufacture of tooling or to expand their tooling capacity. Additional investment was provided from the AMSCI fund, designed to improve the global competitiveness of UK advance manufacturing supply chain clients.
Steve Hetherington, Investment Director at Finance Birmingham, said: “Penso City Vehicles is a business built on strong foundations and has a track record for delivering major projects for international names. The new Vito Taxi is a testament to the quality and ingenuity of its team. The funding will help it to unlock its further potential by developing its offering and growing its staff base to cater for increasing demand.”
