en.Wedoany.com Reported - UK heavy industrial press manufacturer Group Rhodes has invested £400,000 in a new factory and equipment to enhance its ability to design, manufacture, and deliver large press projects. This investment includes new assembly pits and material handling equipment, forming part of the company's ongoing support program for its international customer base, aimed at handling large, complex projects with greater precision, higher capacity, and improved efficiency.
Building on Group Rhodes' global reputation in engineering, this upgrade enhances the factory's credibility, enabling the company to undertake larger contracts in aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, and general engineering. The company will expand its operations in areas such as superplastic forming and diffusion bonding, as well as polymer mold pressing.
Mark Ridgway OBE, DL, CEO and Chairman of Group Rhodes, stated that this investment reflects confidence in the employees, the company's capabilities, and the future of UK manufacturing. Through facility investments, the company has not only improved product quality and consistency but also can take on larger and more complex projects, particularly in superplastic forming and diffusion bonding, and polymer mold pressing.
Group Rhodes has built a strong reputation in the heavy press equipment manufacturing sector, collaborating with several world-leading manufacturers. This investment underscores its intention to maintain a leading position in large press manufacturing both in the UK and globally. With a 200-year history in metal forming machinery, the company has been manufacturing composite forming equipment since the 1930s. All equipment is supported by a comprehensive aftermarket spare parts and service team.
Its Rhodes Interform division integrates technologies from John Shaw and Chester Hydraulics, holds recently registered patents, and has been a leader in superplastic forming and diffusion bonding press technology, development, and innovation for over 50 years. This division is one of the few organizations in the UK and globally capable of developing commercial automated superplastic forming and diffusion bonding presses. The group also operates heavy ceramics and material handling business divisions, and has received the Queen's Award for Innovation and the Queen's Award for International Trade in recent years.
