Auto components manufacturer Axon Automotive (Northampton / UK; www.axonautomotive.com) has moved from its start-up location in Wollaston to a larger 4,180 m² factory site on the Brackmills Industrial Estate in Northampton. The bigger plant has been funded by Axon’s new parent company Bawtry Investments, which acquired the company in November 2017, following a fourfold increase in business in the last 24 months. The firm said growth had been especially strong from export business orders, particularly from sales to an increasing number of non-EU based customers, including India, China and other parts of Asia.

Chris Taylor, Axon’s managing director, said the Brackmills site provided the company with more space to expand capacity, "enabling us to install a completely new in-line production facility [that is] currently being built." The facility is expected to be commissioned by the middle of 2018. Taylor added that the new site has provided enough space for a bigger R&D area and under its current business plan, Axon plans to boost its full-time staff headcount to around 200 “in the foreseeable future.”

The company has pioneered the "Axontex" process, used to produce lightweight carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CRP) vehicle structural components. It is a patented beam technology, which crushes progressively to absorb very large amounts of energy. The CRP-based system can produce vehicle frames with high impact crash resistance performance that are also lightweight and can be produced using low tooling solutions. Axon says its Axontex beams have a range for scalable production from 10 to 100,000 units per year.

Axon Automotive's high-performance carbon composites for the auto industry include components, whole vehicle (body-in-white) structures and complete vehicle prototypes. The company also supplies lightweight solutions and engineering services to other sectors requiring composite structures, such as wind power and renewable energy.