Formtech Machining UK, part of Formula 1’s manufacturing supply chain, is planning to significantly increase the size of its operations at Silverstone Park.
The company specialises in producing niche, precision metallic components for F1 teams.
Currently it employs ten people – chiefly CNC machinists and programmers – inside its Silverstone Park workshop/factory premises which total 12,300 sq ft.
Its manufacturing capabilities are also relied on by customers in automotive and marine.
In the last six months Formtech has invested over £2m in state-of-the-art equipment including two significant GF Mikron machines – a P800US with robot assisted 16 pallet loader and a P500 with seven-pallet rotary loader.
“There is a growing demand for our services from F1,” explained Formtech Director Mark White, former Operations Director at the Aston Martin F1 team. “We’re building ourselves a name as a reliable partner for teams with healthy repeat custom.
“Some of our robotic equipment is better even than some of the F1 teams we work with which means we can do the work more efficiently to meet our customers’ demands.”
He added: “We have good relationships with a number of neighbouring businesses at Silverstone Park who have their own specific engineering or manufacturing skills. We can complement each other collaboratively and it’s one of the reasons we’re at Silverstone Park.
“The area is also rich in manufacturing skills which helps us with recruitment and the Park’s central location puts us within half an hour’s drive time of at least five of the F1 teams. It’s ideal for logistics.”
Formtech Machining UK is owned by former GP2 Series race team boss Franz Hilmer’s Formtech GmbH Werkzeug in Germany which specialises in tooling and moulding.
Mark continued: “The UK arm was founded in 2019, initially in a partnership with Aston Martin (then Racing Point), but we are now wholly independent and are supplying various teams on the F1 grid and are in discussions with more.
“Our work in automotive and marine is also interesting and there is scope for us to start looking now at aerospace. We have growth ambitions and would like to expand to double the size and output in the next 12-18 months.”
