Gripper growing and recruiting after Small Capital Grant

“The grant has transformed the business...we can do everything on site which gives us massive savings in time and money."

An engineering business in Exhall has more than doubled its staff and is fully fulfilling its growth plans thanks to a Small Capital Grant from Warwickshire County Council.

Gripper Differentials, on Bayton Road Industrial Estate, is a small business with a big reputation. The company, bought by Adele Rogers and Scott Gilbody in 2022, is a real local success story. From its Warwickshire base on the edge of Bedworth, it supplies a highly specialist product – slip differentials for gearboxes – to individuals, businesses and motorsport teams across Europe.

The business needed to increase capacity, reducing the risk of delays with suppliers, and oversee quality control at their small factory to enable the necessary growth. The solution was a Small Capital Grant which helped purchase two new CNC machines which has allowed Gripper to bring all its manufacturing operations in house.

“The grant has transformed the business,” said Adele. “The new machines mean we can do everything on site which gives us massive savings in time and money. Without the grant we could have bought only one machine so would have had to move forward well below capacity, so this has been massive for us.

“The process of getting the grant was really quick and Louisa Smith from the County Council was brilliant in guiding us through the process.”

Gripper has taken on three machine operators and an office manager, and is looking to take on an apprentice, to satisfy an order book bulging with clients from across the UK, Ireland and Europe and stretching as far as China.

Many of Gripper’s customers have been attracted by reputation or word of mouth,

“Sometimes a customer from somewhere in Europe will come to us and we wonder how on earth they found us, a little company in Warwickshire!” said Adele. “But motorsport is quite an insular word so a lot of people talk to each other and it’s nice to know that word has got around about us.

“We do put a very high value on quality. When you supply parts with a lifetime warranty, as we do, you have to make sure that everything is spot on. The new machines, and the council grant, means that we can keep hitting those standards for many more customers.”

Gripper Differentials is one of more than 100 small businesses to have been supported by Small Capital Grants from WCC. The scheme is now temporarily closed but is expected to reopen later this year.

WCC Contract & Project Monitoring Officer, Louisa Smith, said: “It has been a real pleasure to work with Gripper and their fantastic growth shows what can be achieved by ambitious and knowledgeable people, such as Scott and Adele. They have shown that they have the skills, expertise and innovation that are admired far and wide.”

* Please find out what other support is available to your business by calling Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub on 0300 060 3747 or visiting https://www.cwgrowthhub.co.uk