Almost £10m wiped off turnover of 'critically' important manufacturer

It's been recognised as 'critically' important to the UK automotive industry, it employs 730-plus staff and it's Gloucestershire based, but it's been a challenging year for the firm.

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You may not realise it, but one of the biggest and most important manufacturers of the bodywork that shapes the cars we see every day on our roads Europe-wide is right here in Gloucestershire.

If you drive a BMW, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover or numerous other marques that are household names, and if you bought it for its looks (as well as its safety and build quality) you may have designers and staff in Gloucester to thank.

Why don’t you know about it?

It’s no secret that G-TEKT Europe Manufacturing (G-TEM) has its headquarters in Brockworth and is part of the UK’s automotive-related manufacturing sector - which contributes £93 billion to the UK economy annually.

It is just that Japanese-owned G-TEKT Europe is more like a ‘white label’ manufacturer, which means the names of the car makers it produces parts for is not something it advertises.

The firm, which is Japanese-owned and employs more than 730 staff across its European operations, has just published a report about its performance last year that makes for interesting reading.