Bank’s tooling finance puts Cab Automotive firmly in the driving seat

Tipton-based Cab Automotive, which makes seats and interior trims for blue chip automotive manufacturers, secured £1.7 million to invest in state-of-the-art equipment.

The Bank provided a flexible finance facility for capital expenditure on new bespoke automated tools and a new manufacturing cell for its 240-strong workforce to fulfil a high-volume contract. Richard McCulloch, Finance Director at Cab Automotive, said

“We were manufacturing large seat foams for a new vehicle and therefore it was imperative that we updated our equipment to manage not only a high volume contract, but also to manage the large tools automatically. The tools and equipment were being supplied by a German company that had spent large amounts of time with us on creating a bespoke design.”

Richard credits the Bank’s understanding of the automotive sector, particularly the need to finance customised equipment in advance to service a contract, as being vital to securing this and subsequent deals. He said “They understood the intricacies of tooling finance when it was critical to our business growth. The Bank helped us at every step of the procurement process and also opened another finance facility for us after learning of further new orders in the pipeline.”

The Bank’s Automotive Director, Meg Salt said “Cab Automotive works with some of the biggest names in a buoyant sector, on the back of their blend of workmanship, flexibility and innovation. They have a strong management team with more than 100 years’ collective experience in the automotive industry and have been successful in generating demand for their high quality solutions. Cab Automotive is a fantastic example of a business that has the manufacturing expertise to drive the automotive industry forward in this country.

“The Bank’s decision to depart from conventional lending policy and supply a significant level of funding for bespoke tools reflects solid confidence in the company’s ongoing success.”