It has roots stretching back to 1910, has trained generations of engineers, and is one of North East England’s true manufacturing success stories.
And Ford Aerospace is still flying high.
The award-winning company specialises in the high precision machining and pressing of parts and sub assemblies for the aerospace, automotive, industrial, and other high-technology sectors.
It’s now part of the SPIROL Group – a family-run global enterprise, which it joined in 2023 – and continues to thrive from its base in South Tyneside.
General Manager Mike Eggleston, who joined the company in 2024, explores the company’s past and future, and explains why, 115 years after Robert Ford established Ford & Co in South Shields, it remains true to its mission…
You’ve now been at Ford Aerospace for more than a year – has anything surprised you about the business, and what have been the highlights so far?
I wouldn’t say ‘surprised’ as such; however, from day one, the desire and willingness of everyone in the business to drive positive change has been exceptional. This is a great business with a strong heritage and the team’s passion to be the best they can be really shows. The knowledge and skills within the employee base is tremendous. We have excellent reputations with our customers, which is helping to deliver growth. As a business, we are hugely committed to development of the next generation of talent, with all sorts of different support activities, ranging from STEM events in local schools to the Ford Aerospace Apprentice Academy with Gateshead and South Tyneside colleges.
There have been so many highlights it’s hard to pick out any specifics. Generally, working in a business committed to investing in people is always going to be a pleasure. Add onto that our strong market position driving an expanding orderbook … how much better can it get?
It’s been great getting to know the team at Ford, also everyone in the wider SPIROL group. Being part of that larger team adds so much into the business, in terms of market reach, but also a sound financial standing which is enabling investment – initially in the people, as mentioned, now moving to plant and equipment.
Ford Aerospace’s history can be traced back to 1910, what do you think its founders would think of the business today?
The company has changed a lot over the years, but we remain just as true to our mission ‘to keep people moving safely’ as we ever did. We are continuing to go from strength to strength, as we continue to invest and develop our high precision machining capabilities, resulting in a strong reputation in the industry for producing the highest quality components and mechanical assemblies.
Ford provides solutions to the world’s leading aerospace OEMs, supplying precision components for both high volume production and legacy / spares requirements.
We pride ourselves on providing a first-class, manufacturing and engineering service to a broad range of customers, specialising in the machining and pressing of components and assemblies for the aerospace, automotive and related high-technology industries.
So, to answer the question – 115 years on, what would the founders think? I’d imagine a feeling of immense pride maybe, with a little surprise at just how well the business has stood the test of time.
What does being part of the SPIROL group bring to Ford Aerospace?
SPIROL is a successful, family-owned company with a rich history that is also tied to aviation development. By combining the capabilities of both companies, we’re able to enhance our value-added offering to our customers both in technical expertise and products.
As a relatively new member of the SPIROL group we are looking to ensure the whole team has a solid understanding of Ford Aerospace’s product offerings, and as such this will enable us to develop new opportunities. Similarly, being part of the group gives us greater financial stability and provides us access to a global sales network, which is helping us to expand into new markets.
Ford Aerospace is making a major contribution to skills development, with initiatives such as your academy – why is this so integral to the business?
Here at Ford Aerospace, we know first-hand the benefits of investing in employee development and continuous learning. We recently achieved Platinum accredited membership status as part of The 5% Club’s Employer Audit Scheme, which illustrates our own commitment to nurturing talent through opportunities such as apprenticeships and graduate internship programmes.
Ford Aerospace Academy was developed to build an effective pipeline of talent, not only for us but also to support the manufacturing sector in the North East. Launched in 2013, it has successfully helped hundreds of young people into employment.
Today, the Academy remains true to its core values – to provide opportunities to young people interested in manufacturing and engineering by helping them to develop the practical skills that employers are looking for, as well as access to work placements, while working toward a nationally recognised qualification.
You’re an active participant in industry networks such as the North East Automotive Alliance, Make UK and the Engineering and Manufacturing Network – why is this important to you and how does it help Ford Aerospace?
One of the obvious reasons is the ability to meet like-minded businesses, as they offer a fantastic forum to share ideas and best practice. Furthermore, bodies such as Make UK act as a voice for industry, championing important issues for their members. As an SME, being able to access such platforms provides tangible benefits that help support both our and sector development.
We are also members of industry groups such as the North West Aerospace Alliance, ADS Toulouse, and the West of England Aerospace Forum. Excellent communication and information platforms, we very much value these memberships as they also give us the opportunity to contribute directly to and help shape future conversations.
Tell us about any recent investments in facilities and capabilities. How have they changed your offering to industry?
As a manufacturing business we remain focused on delivering the best quality product and service and it shows. We are continuing to grow but managing growth brings its own set of challenges. Our workforce has increased by over 20 per cent in the past two years, so to manage this we have comprehensive training and succession plans in place which ensures skills are shared and team members are not put under undue pressure as new team members learn their roles.
Like most manufacturing companies, ever increasing costs and how to protect profitability remain on-going challenges. To ensure we continue to move in an upward trajectory efficient planning processes are vital. To support our ability to stay at the leading edge (pardon the pun) we have new CRM and ERP systems ‘en-route’, that will be implemented throughout the whole SPIROL group over the coming months, that will help us to streamline processes and increase efficiency, whilst also enabling a much broader information network within the group.
We are very much a product focussed business, specialising in machined aerospace components and precision shims. We are adding capability and capacity to complement this, combined with an element of future-proofing to ensure we really do stay at that leading edge.
Staying close to our customers and suppliers also makes a huge difference, and effectively and efficiently communicating with them puts us in a better position to manage any challenges that come our way.
What’s on the horizon for Ford Aerospace?
As a business our orderbooks are stronger than ever. We are focussed on markets that continue to project growth. That growth will come in many forms – obviously an increasing sales line, but we will be looking to grow the people we have already in terms of skill sets and abilities, as well as adding to the team.
Further investments in IT systems and manufacturing technology and capacity are all in the pipeline.
We are looking to increase the profile of the business locally, nationally and internationally. Locally is more about being focussed on being good members of the community and fostering a strong and positive reputation. We know Ford Aerospace is a fantastic place to work, so we think it is important to share this and encourage more people to come and develop their careers with us.
Nationally starts to become more of a focus on our customer and partner networks. We have a large customer base and probably an even larger supplier network across the UK. Those various organisations we are members of help to raise our profile so that our name becomes more synonymous with the industry (and hopefully a few less queries about whether we are related to the Ford motor group!).
Internationally, there is pretty much an untapped customer base waiting out there for us. Clearly as we look to generate more opportunities internationally, we also open ourselves up to greater competition, so one of our key priorities is to ensure we are as productive as we possibly can be to ensure we remain competitive – internationally.
For more information on Ford Aerospace, visit ford-engineering.com.