SHD Composites has recently announced that during August 2018, SHD Composite Materials Inc, a new venture in North America, was incorporated.
Under the new venture a manufacturing and distribution site will be created, based in the Charlotte area of North Carolina, primarily to support the company’s growing business in America, while continuing to support its growing global reach. The fourth SHD fabric prepreg line has been fully commissioned in the UK, ready to be shipped out to the new facility before the end of the year, with on-site manufacturing commencing early 2019.
Jamie Keogh, a prominent and highly experienced member of the composite community, has joined SHD Composite Materials Inc as CEO of the US operation. Previously, he was a Company Director at Global Technologies Racing (GTR) [see page 74, this issue] and will use his extensive experience to establish a foothold in North America.
Founded in 2010 by Steve and Helen Doughty, SHD has maintained its family ethos throughout its growth, now having over 50 members of staff currently working across four sites in Sleaford, Lincolnshire with a fifth site in Krsko, Slovenia.
“We currently offer our full range of composite prepreg materials from the UK globally, however by growing our manufacturing facilities this offers further capacity for UK clients,” explains Helen Doughty. “We see this as a fantastic opportunity to strengthen the current position of SHD Composite Materials in the advanced composite prepreg market.”
Coupled with the production facilities in the UK and Slovenia, an additional manufacturing facility in North America will offer strength, stability and efficiency to SHD customers around the globe. “Every employee within the SHD Group is passionate about composites, and we see forming long-term partnerships within America as an extremely exciting next step on our journey of our planned global growth,” Helen Doughty says.
With three hot melt fabric laminating lines, a Uni-Directional machine together with an extensive Research and Development facility, the promotion of sustainable materials remains at the core of the company’s philosophy.