Metal pressings and stamping specialist Pre-Met is on course to produce more than 500,000 brake plates for the rail sector in 2025, as its acquisition of Quality Springs & Pressings unlocks extra capacity and new programmes with Tier 1 customers. The company, which employs 60 people at its Studley Road site in Redditch, has seen rail emerge as one of its fastest-growing markets on the back of its automotive and aerospace experience.
The business is manufacturing the braking plate in up to 18 different variants, including left- and right-hand sets, for a major Tier 1 supplier. Despite a 20% increase in output, Pre-Met reports zero defects over an eleven-month period, underlining the process discipline it originally built up in higher-volume automotive work. Four new roles have been added in welding, press setting, quality, and the toolroom to support the additional demand.
“Diversification was a big priority this year for the business, and we wanted to look at ways where we could maximise our core expertise in automotive, aerospace and advanced engineering and take it into complementary areas,” explained James Leng, Managing Director of Pre-Met. Rail, he said, moved quickly up the target list once early projects were delivered on time and to budget. “Rail was a natural target. We had started to deliver a couple of projects on time and to budget and this has accelerated this year, with the one back plate now passing 500,000 of units in 2025 – with a 20% rise in production expected next year.”
Pre-Met says the integration of Quality Springs & Pressings, with more than £500,000 invested in plant moves and systems, has delivered around 30% extra production capacity and access to new robotic technology on the Redditch site. That headroom is being used not only to scale braking components, but also to offer rail customers a one-source solution spanning tool transfers, prototyping, and volume production. The company is positioning itself to take on new work from rolling stock, infrastructure, and train manufacturing customers looking to consolidate supply chains.
Alongside the brake plate programme, Pre-Met has been working with another rail customer to reverse engineer an existing component in order to simplify manufacture and extend service life. The project, which combines in-house tool design with welded and pressed assemblies, is aimed at improving base design, cutting production complexity, and supporting longer maintenance intervals on the network.
Founded in 1973, Pre-Met has evolved from producing high-value pens, cufflinks, and telecommunications parts into a supplier across aerospace, mobility, med-tech, construction, electronics, and wider transport. The company offers full lifecycle support from concept and design through to prototyping and low, medium, and high-volume production, backed by ISO 9001, AS9100 and TS16949 accreditations and Cyber Essentials certification.
“2025 has been a pivotal year for us, with the Quality Springs & Pressings acquisition and subsequent consolidation of its operations at our existing site on Studley Road. Over £500k has been invested in the integration and this has given us an extra 30% boost in production and access to new robotic technology,” Leng added. With membership of the JOSCAR supplier accreditation system already opening routes into new aerospace and defence programmes, the company expects rail to remain a core growth engine as operators and Tier 1s look for proven suppliers that can cope with rising volumes without sacrificing quality.
