This week’s #madeinsandwell Monday star is Majorsell (www.majorsell.co.uk), a leading UK distributor of air brake components. From humble beginnings, Majorsell now employs over 30 people, exports to more than 70 countries and recently supplied repair kits to SpaceX, a company that launches rockets and spacecraft from Cape Canaveral.

Initially established on a shoestring budget in Coventry in 1980, the company began as a reconditioning workshop of air brake equipment. However, good quality parts were hard to find, so Majorsell introduced its own range, which went on to develop into an internationally renowned programme of repair kits for all major European air brake applications. The products it distributes include everything from full twin cylinder air brake compressors to tiny washers and seals.

In 1990 the business relocated to Birmingham, and then in 2011 made the move to its current 20,000 square foot facility on Credenda Road in West Bromwich.

“We wanted somewhere with better access to the transport network, a larger site and with the opportunity to shape the internal layout and Credenda Road was just what we were looking for,” said managing director Deborah Burrows. “Sandwell is a hub for freight and commercial vehicle businesses, so many of our customers are located nearby, but being so close to Sandwell and Dudley rail station also gives us easy access to London and Birmingham airport.”

Majorsell invested £150,000 in the new premises to ensure it was operating at full efficiency and in 2012 was able to expand the business again, adding the sale of truck parts to its portfolio (majorselltruckparts.co.uk). Its catalogue now includes brake valves, air dryers, clutch servos, calipers, couplings, master cylinders, accessories and the widest range of compressors available from a single supplier.

The business is still family owned and run, and many of the staff have worked for the company for nearly 20 years. Air brake remanufacture is a specialist and increasingly rare skill so employees have to be trained in-house. This means that very few other air brake suppliers have the range of knowledge, skills and stock that Majorsell can offer.

But although Majorsell is in the brake business, the company has no intentions of staying still. Plans for the future include expanding its range of truck and trailer parts, increasing the number of UK stockists and improving shipping speeds. The company also hopes to enter and grow newer markets for the company’s air brake brands in central Africa and central America.