LANCASHIRE’S aerospace industry has been boosted with a £1.2 million investment into new state-of-the-art technologies.

Precision manufacturing company TGM, part of the Aero Services Global group, says that the new investment, particularly the acquisition of a new Zimmerman FZ33 compact milling machine, which produces aircraft components, could see the company take on an extra £2 million worth of orders.

This will come as welcome news to manufacturers across the region, as businesses face an uncertain climate in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

TGM director Sarah Stephens said: “The Zimmermann is a fantastic machine and is the largest out of all of the 18 strong CNC machine tools we currently have at our Preston facility.

“An initial package of work is already in production on the Zimmermann and there are plenty of opportunities we are currently exploring that could fill up capacity.

“With this additional technology, we are hoping to double sales from £3m to £6m over the next two years.”

She added: “Covid-19 has brought its own challenges, but we feel we are in a good position to come through the pandemic and proactively establish our new position in the supply chain.”

TGM became part of the Aerospace Global group in 2016 and specialises in producing hard and soft metals and aeroplane components for customers such as Airbus.

Now the company will hope that the acquisition of cutting-edge technology like the Zimmerman as well as the latest design and planning software will help push them, and by extension the Lancashire aerospace economy, to the forefront of the industry.

Ms Stephens said: “It’s all about positioning TGM as a strategic critical partner to the primes and ensuring we can add value at every part of the process.

“This wouldn’t have been possible three years ago, but a combination of the investment, industry approvals and a track record of quality and delivery has paved the way.”