Business

Denroy adds its weight to north's composite hub

Back row, from left Dr Leslie Orr, ADS, and Dr Scott King, general manager NIACE, with Jim Knowles, head of sales at Denroy and John Irwin, general manager marking Denroy's joining of the research centre
Back row, from left Dr Leslie Orr, ADS, and Dr Scott King, general manager NIACE, with Jim Knowles, head of sales at Denroy and John Irwin, general manager marking Denroy's joining of the research centre Back row, from left Dr Leslie Orr, ADS, and Dr Scott King, general manager NIACE, with Jim Knowles, head of sales at Denroy and John Irwin, general manager marking Denroy's joining of the research centre

PLASTICS firm Denroy has become the latest member of the Northern Ireland Advanced Composites Engineering (NIACE) centre.

The Bangor company - best known for its Denman hairbrush division - specialises in plastic injection mouldings.

It is the fifteenth member of NIACE which was set up in 2012 as a hub for the north's composite sector.

The move by Denroy comes as it sets out on a major expansion that will see it focus on growing sales to the aerospace sector.

The company is creating 32 jobs in a in a £3 million investment.

It has supplied parts to aero-plane manufacturers for two decades and the business currently accounts for a third of what the company does.

However, it hopes to grow that to more than 50 per cent by 2017, largely on the back of supplying parts for Bombardier's CSeries jets.

Other clients include Airbus while Denroy is also the largest supplier of parts to the Eurofighter.

Denroy general manager John Irwin said the company has long been at the forefront of innovation in plastics and composites.

“We have been in business for over 40 years, operating in industries and markets all over the world. We have constantly innovated, collaborated and shared our knowledge so our involvement in the NIACE centre is logical for us at this time. We look forward to working in tandem with the centre in the coming months and years," he said.

“Northern Ireland’s advanced engineering sector has so much to offer on a world scale. Having seen the skills and innovation in polymers and plastics research here at NIACE among the various sectors that the participating companies represent, I believe we can work together and see plastics technology sector grow. We look forward to exploring these opportunities with NIACE.”

As weight reduction is key to modern aerospace design, Denroy has developed products which reduce weight, costs and streamline the manufacturing process for aircraft through converting metal components and assemblies to plastic.

Denroy is the only global company integrating the material Victrex ‘PEEK ESD101’ within their processes. Victrex is one of the highest performing engineering thermoplastics in the world, its chemical, hydrolysis and high wear resistance makes it key to the metal to plastic conversion process.

It enables the company to improve the integrity of Aerospace products and components whilst reducing the overall weight and cost of material.

NIACE general manager Dr Scott King added: “We are all very excited at the technology that Denroy can offer. Our participants are from a wide variety of sectors including aerospace, marine and automotive, and their activities and innovations could open up a whole range of possibilities for them. In turn, Denroy also now has the opportunity to talk directly and work collaboratively with participants to explore further opportunities.”