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West Midlands-based pressings company, Covpress has announced a £15 million investment in its Canley facility, creating 150 new jobs.

The investment will see Covpress’s facility grow in the next two years and secure state-of-the-art robotic and laser equipment. Covpress’s workforce will expand from 550 to 700, making it one of the area’s largest private sector employers.

Covpress made the announcement as it celebrated its first year of ownership by Chinese firm Shandong Yongtai, which acquired the manufacturer for £30 million. Since then it has already invested £10 million in another of Covpress’s sites, producing 75 new jobs.

You Xiaoming, CEO of Shandong Yongtai Group, said, “We have exciting plans for the future. Over the next two years plans are already in place to inject a further investment that will modernise and expand our facility here at Covpress.

“This will add much needed capacity to our automotive and non-automotive clients and further jobs opportunities within the facility.”

Kit Halliday, Joint Chief Executive (Europe) for Covpress, said, “The confidence that the Chinese partnership is showing in this company is plain to see.

“Their investment is very welcome and it is a direct result of the hard work and dedication of the workforce in this company. We are looking forward to the future with great excitement.”

In the past 18 months, more than £3 billion worth of investment has been announced in the UK automotive industry. See our investment page for more information.