A Sandwell firm that provides parts and undertakes repairs to London Underground trains has received a visit from the city of London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport, Val Shawcross.

DK Rewinds is a Smethwick-based manufacturer that supplies components that keep London’s complicated transport system operational. It is a family-owned business that specialises in repairing the traction motors that power the Underground Central line trains.

It produces new components for motors that match the originals, meaning faulty trains on the important Central line can be swiftly repaired and brought back into service. The company has a long-standing relationship with Transport for London (TfL), which has invested £18m with it over the last six years.

DK Rewinds has two sites in Sandwell, employing over 60 full time staff, including three electrical engineering apprentices. The company was founded in 1976 by Mr Harbhajan Singh Bhogal in the top rooms of his house and has grown to become a market leader in the repair and manufacture of traction armatures in the UK today. The company is now run by Mr Bhogal’s sons.

DK Rewinds has been supplying TfL for around 30 years and this has enabled the firm to invest in its workforce, including training apprentice and graduate engineers, and to invest in new technology.

The West Midlands region as a whole also benefits from the business links with TfL as around 60 per cent of its expenditure is made with companies based outside London, supporting 60,000 jobs outside the capital. 6,500 of these jobs are within in the West Midlands.