Capital Investment at Westley Engineering

Founded in 1998 as a spin-off from the prestigious gunmaker Westley Richards, Westley Engineering has evolved far beyond its origins. While only 5% of its output now relates to gun components, the company has established itself as a trusted supplier of pressings, machined and assembled components, to multiple sectors including aerospace, automotive, rail, white goods and renewable energy.

Three years ago, Westley Engineering improved the accuracy of a production process by switching from piercing holes in a pressed component using a press tool, to drilling them on a 40-taper vertical machining centre (VMC). Although it improved the precision, it also increased cycle times substantially and made the process more labour intensive.

In order to improve quality & performance, in late 2023, the company installed a Brother Speedio S700Xd1 four-axis, 30-taper machining centre. John Harland, managing director of Westley Engineering, said: “The arrival of the first Brother machine was a gamechanger. As a result, it was followed by a second in April 2025.