Case Study: Tratos

Boosting advanced manufacturing through funding

Tratos UK is an electrical cable manufacturer which supplies cables for a range of industries including power distribution, oil and gas, railways and renewable energy.  The company is part of the wider Tratos Group, an Italian company with a €150 million turnover and a global sales reach.

Tratos UK’s manufacturing and technical facilities are based at Knowsley Business Park in Merseyside – one of the largest and most successful business parks in the Liverpool City Region.

Securing Tratos’ future in Merseyside

Tratos entered the UK market by acquiring North West Cables in 2008. Come 2013, it was seeking to expand production from low voltage cables into the medium voltage cable segment.

In December 2013, the Chrysalis Fund approved a £3.5m loan for Tratos. The Chrysalis Fund was launched in March 2012 to support commercial regeneration activities in the Liverpool City Region with a particular focus on schemes that will encourage economic growth and job creation.

The investment was to allow Tratos to acquire an additional adjacent site for its expansion as well as support the redevelopment and expansion of the production facilities on site. The new and expanded facilities will house a major investment in state of the art production equipment.

Overall, the project will deliver more than 100,000 sq ft of new and refurbished manufacturing capacity and the creation of 100 new jobs. Moreover, it will secure the company’s future at the forefront of high-quality production.

Joined up funding

The Chrysalis Fund works to make investments in such a way that it also attracts other sources of finance to invest. In this case, Tratos has received funding from diverse sources that include the Chrysalis Fund, the Regional Growth Fund, HSBC supplier finance and its own equity investment. It was this broad programme of funding that made the project viable, showing how important it is to access a number of different sources of funding.

Speaking about this, Iain Jenkinson of The Chrysalis Fund, said: “Tratos is a real success story whereby several ‘pots’ of public money have been combined to leverage private equity and secure major inward investment and a jobs boost for the region.”

Working with Chrysalis

Kevin Martin, group finance director at Tratos said: “We were delighted to arrange this loan with the Chrysalis Fund. We found the application process straightforward and were guided through each step of the process by our designated fund manager at Chrysalis. We found them to be extremely helpful, knowledgeable and in tune with the funding landscape. The redevelopment and expansion of our existing facility not only protects existing jobs but will assist in regenerating the area and creating more job opportunities.”