Peter Davies, chief executive of Smethwick firm James Lister & Sons, has been appointed co-chair of the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN).

MAN is a collaboration of complementary UK manufacturers that seeks to provide a single-source engineering and manufacturing solution for its customers across a variety of industry sectors. Together with co-chair Austin Owens of Grove Design, Peter has been appointed to steer the organisation as the UK emerges from lockdown.

Since the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, the network has already secured a string of contracts for its members, with seven of its nine members reporting that sales are back up to pre-pandemic levels. The group is predicting a £10m sales boost, expecting 40 new jobs to be created and is making plans to invest £2.5m in new technology.

Peter said: “Our focus now is on supporting members who are still below pre-pandemic volumes and looking at how we can harness the power of MAN to achieve new efficiencies and, importantly, target new opportunities.”

As well as James Lister & Sons, based on Spon Lane South in Smethwick, other members of MAN include Wednesbury-based Alucast, Kimbermills International in Cradley Heath, Birmingham’s Barkley Plastics and Brandauer, C-MAC SMT in Warwick, Grove Design in Leominster, Muller Holdings in Kidderminster and PP Control & Automation in Cheslyn Hay. Together, its members employ over 1,750 people and run 13 factories.

Think Sandwell wishes Peter all the best for his tenure as co-chair. To find out about the support available to help all businesses recover from the pandemic, visit our coronavirus pages.