Armstrong Group

ABM Receives Supplier Excellence Award from McLaren Cars!

Armstrong Group — 11/10/2023

We are proud to have been recognised by McLaren at their Annual Supplier Partners Review which was held at their manufacturing base in Woking on June 23rd , 2023. Speakers from McLaren provided their insight, vision and future strategy with ABM being awarded the prestigious title of Delivery and Operational Excellence. From our roll mills, pressings, painting, and assembly team who have closely worked with our Quality, Logistics and Planning teams. A great effort from all that demonstrated flexibility in planning, great quality and deliveries on time. This is a long way away from where we were 2 years and we are very proud to achieve this award, of over 130 suppliers only 6 were presented with supplier awards and we, ABM, were the only manufacturing company to receive one!! Thank you to our ABM team for all their efforts and hard work!! Well done to all!

Armstrong Manufacturing - Kicking off 2024 With More New Kit!

Armstrong Group — 03/01/2024

As we kick off the year 2024, we are thrilled to announce that we have invested in new equipment to further bolster our press brake capacity. This strategic move is aimed at supporting our growing customer base and is a testament to our commitment to continuous improvement and providing an excellent customer service.

The E-Brake machine with a full electric drive system provides a win-win situation for both the environment and our operations. With energy savings of up to 50%, lower CO2 emissions, a user-friendly 21" E-control touch screen interface, noiseless operation, offline programming, and moveable support arms, it offers numerous advantages that contribute to a greener and more efficient future.

2023 was a year of huge investment, development and growth for the Armstrong group. With the addition of our brand new composites site, machining facility, 3D scanning, our new website Armstrong Group - Powered By People And Technology (armstrong-group.uk) and much much more! 2024 is sure to be just as exciting!

ABM Transition to Armstrong Group

Armstrong Group — 11/10/2023

ARMSTRONG GROUP

Over the next 8 – 10 weeks we will be transitioning the company identity from ABM to Armstrong Group. This is a ‘rebranding’ for ABM, to reflect our organisations future and recognise we are so much more than just a Brightware supplier and showcasing our potential to new customers. We rely on the continued support of ABM and Armstrong employees to continue the success of our business; the future looks
exciting and we want to bring everyone along for the journey. We are the Armstrong Group. A Small, innovative, and Quality assured team based in Coventry.

Keep an eye out for our new website and have a lot to share with our Customers and Suppliers having invested £3m into new Technologies this year .

BUSINESS UPDATES

We have been very busy investing in new manufacturing equipment for unit 2 and 3 in readiness for Armstrong Composites to Start Production. Over the past few weeks, you will have noticed lots of machinery and buildings arriving, most of which are now installed or in the process of being completed. You will also have seen an ‘extension’ attached to the back of unit 3, this now houses an 18 Tonne Auto-clave and freezer for the composites team. Over the next few months more equipment is due to be delivered and further trimming cells will be arriving in September. Darren and the Facilities team have been very busy and we are very grateful for all their hard work keeping up with all the facility changes and improvements.

With the business growing, more people are joining the business, our headcount is now around 200 employees. With the new contracts we are quoting this will continue to increase as we move into 2024. We are now having a continuous stream of customers visiting site so please remember to keep the site as clean as we can! It makes a big and important difference for our visitors to see a clean and orderly manufacturing site!

ABM Craft Sculpture for JLR! #BlackHistoryMonth

Armstrong Group — 12/10/2023

Local craftsmen from ABM Coventry recently took great pride in crafting their Tree of Life sculpture.

JLR unveiled their Tree of Life sculpture, born out of their passion for art and sustainability while celebrating the profound legacy left by iconic figures of African and Caribbean heritage, as part of #BlackHistoryMonth.

The beautiful installation was designed with circular aluminium, conceptualised by our Creative function and African & Caribbean Heritage (ACH) employee network and based on themes of hope and engagement.

The roots and branches have been designed to symbolise the legacy of African and Caribbean trailblazers and pioneers who paved the way for their communities and provided them with hope.

Each leaf on the tree has been brought to life through the JLR Schools Partnership programme, capturing the expressions from schoolchildren on what inspirational African and Caribbean leaders mean to them. The engagement with schools aims to empower and inspire the next generation and their hopes for the future.

The Handshake That Changed Everything: Ryan Lally, Leader Made in Armstrong

Armstrong Group — 02/09/2025

By Ilona Pitt, Made in the Midlands

The tank statue stands guard as you turn into the car park at Armstrong Group in Coventry, Union Jacks bright against the Midlands sky. A fitting sentinel for a company embedded in British engineering, from supplying some of the nation’s most iconic automotive marques to its latest strides in aerospace and defence.

Inside, the message is clear: towering posters of the team smiling from the shop floor walls. The blue ‘56 crest, a nod to 56 Bayton Road, is worn on every uniform, marking a shared identity.

Precision components gleam under bright lights, bound for Bentley, McLaren, Morgan, and now Rolls-Royce. The air hums with the rhythm of advanced machinery, robotics moving with exactness. Over 160,000 square feet dedicated to precision engineering, with new lines and equipment driving steady growth across three interlinked units.

And somewhere in that noise and light walks a man who first came here as a shy 16-year-old apprentice in 2011, when the place felt, in his words, like “a Fred in a shed” - a phrase for something makeshift and uncertain. It would take years - and one firm handshake - to bring it together.

Ilona Pitt: Let’s go back to day one as an apprentice. What did you walk into?

Ryan Lally: It was 2011, under a different name and ownership. I was 16. Shy. Honestly, a bit scared. My first day, I was chaperoned round what felt more like a building site than a factory. A ghost town. Ten people on the floor. A few machines running, others gathering dust. I called it “a Fred in a shed” because that’s how it felt.

IP: For most, it might have been just a stop-gap job. For you, it was the start of something lasting.

RL: It was small, but there was something worth holding onto. You couldn’t always see it, but you could feel it. I guess I just never let go.

IP: You didn’t come in alone - your family path runs through here too. How did that shape you?

RL: My uncle got me in for school work experience at 14, then I came back as an apprentice. My dad joined after me, then my brother. Having family around grounded me. It made me care more about getting it right for the people next to me. Regardless of the storms, I stayed because I cared. Within 18 months, the team was bigger. I’d finished my apprenticeship, taken on new tasks, and started training others.

IP: By 2017 you were a production manager, leading people twice your age. How did you earn it?

RL: I’d seen managers go too soft - nobody knew where the line was. I’d seen others go too hard - and all they got back was resentment. I didn’t want either. So I took the best and worst from every manager I’d worked under and built my own style. Respect first. Be clear. Give people the tools to do the job and they’ll usually get it done. Long before my qualification in 2019, the proof was in the way people turned to me when decisions had to be made.

IP: Some titles you earn on paper. Others you earn when people start looking for you in the room.

RL: That’s when you realise it’s not the title that matters - it’s that quiet turning point when people stop waiting to be told and start trusting you to stand there with them, shoulder to shoulder.

IP: The current management team arrived in 2020. What was the company like leading up to that?

RL: We still had some of those big-name contracts, work we could be proud of, but the business was under strain. The focus was on making the most of what we had, not on what was next. The place was busy, but cluttered. You could hear it in the stop-start of the machines, see it in the crowded walkways. Without a clear direction, we were firefighting. The people worked hard, no question. But the business itself was close to breaking point. We had more to give, we just needed the chance - and the belief - to bring it together again.

IP: Richard Lindoe, Managing Director of Armstrong, still talks about that handshake in July 2020. What did you see at that moment?

RL: It was the middle of COVID, and the place was in a dark spot. We’d lost people, good people, and some had been let go. I’d stayed. Not because it was easy, but because I couldn’t walk away. This place wasn’t just where I worked - it was like family, and you don’t leave family when things get rough. Richard walked in, shook my hand, and started talking about where we could go. Not just surviving, but growing. He was looking at the same factory I’d worked half my life and seeing something bigger. That’s when I knew: the fight was back, and so was the belief.

IP: Two hands meeting in the middle of a pandemic - one carrying the weight of a business through its darkest months, the other holding a vision of where it could go.

RL: That’s exactly how it felt. From the start, Richard wasn’t just the managing director, he was present. He’d ask about my work, but also about my family. He wanted to know what was really going on, and you could feel that it mattered to him. I feel genuine gratitude for Richard, particularly for helping me develop my skills in dealing with customers and understanding the broader business strategy. For me, he’s been a mentor in every sense. His enthusiasm shows not just in the boardroom but across the whole business - in conversations on the shop floor and in everyday exchanges with people.

IP: It feels that 2020 handshake was a pivotal moment in your career.

RL: Yes. The biggest shift was clarity. Suddenly we had a vision: where we wanted to go, how we were going to get there, and why it mattered. We invested in the right places, opened new opportunities, built momentum. In 2020, turnover was £9m with 109 employees, heading towards another loss, but Richard got the business to break even. By the end of 2025, we should be at £30m and more than 180 employees. With continued investment in people and technology, we’re on target to reach Richard’s objective of £60m by 2028. We can do it - with the team we have. But none of it would have worked without the people already here. They knew the place inside out. They’d been through the hard yards. They cared. When the changes came, they didn’t dig in - they got stuck in. That’s the part I’m proudest of. Growth hasn’t just been down to new machines or contracts. It’s because those same people moved with us.

Factory mural celebrating the Armstrong Group team.

IP: By 2021 you were Group Operations Manager. No hesitation taking it on?

RL: None at all. I’d been working towards that level for years, so when Richard asked, it wasn’t a question of if - just when do we start. I’d come up through every layer, from apprentice to production manager, so I knew the people, the machines, the bottlenecks. More than that, I knew what we could be.

IP: For someone starting out here today who wants to grow the way you have - what’s the secret?

RL: Don’t wait for someone to hand you the next step. You’ve got to come in every day wanting to make things better - for yourself, for the team, for the business. Tell people where you want to go, and then back it up with the work. Learn from everything - the good and the bad - and build your own way. And never forget, you’re part of a family here. Look after each other, and you’ll go far.

From that pivotal handshake in 2020 to leading operations for hundreds today, Ryan’s story is one of persistence meeting the right moment. Now, that journey is recognised with his nomination in the Made Futures category of the Great100, a celebration of leaders shaping the future of UK industry.

Richard Lindoe calls him a natural leader, a steady hand in a time of change, a rising star with the potential to go further. He adds: “Ryan binds the team around him. That shows me we can build for our future - creating security of employment for the people who work with us.”

For Ryan, it’s about carrying the pride of the team and the trust of those beside him. Together, they show that being part of something bigger means the work is more than just work - it’s steady effort over years of change, linking those who came before with those still to come.

And it’s in those handshakes - bridging past and future, leader and team - that Armstrong’s tomorrow is built in steady hands and carried in a resilient spirit.

ABM Company Announcement!

Armstrong Group — 16/10/2023

ABM has been under new ownership and leadership since mid-2020, developing our business through a carefully planned diversification and growth strategy. New customers have been established in new market sectors with new technical capabilities. ABM will remain focused on continuing to provide high quality Brightwork for leading brands in the Automotive industry under the structure of Armstrong Group. ABM will be joined by Armstrong Manufacturing and Armstrong Composites, all operating from our 3 interlinked units at the Bayton Road site in Coventry. Armstrong Manufacturing will focus on manufacturing components, utilising our Metal Pressings, Lasering, Hemming and Metal Finishing teams, which have been enhanced this year with Brake Press and Fabrication cells. Further investment is planned for 2024, including Robotic Welding cells and the expansion of additional equipment to support new product launches.

In addition to this, our new company, Armstrong Composites is now fully established, with an impressive range of the latest equipment to Press and Pre-preg Autoclave Carbon, Flax and other composite materials. This is further enhanced by the installation of Thermoforming and CNC Trimming cells, along with a 3D Printing cell and a dedicated R&D facility. All our Team enjoys the partnership we have with your business and wish to continue supporting you and all new opportunities that are mutually beneficial. I attach our updated organisation structure with contact information for Monday 23rd October.

Our new Armstrong website will also launch on Monday 23rd of October!

Armstrong Group Shifts Up a Gear into Aerospace and Defence

Armstrong Group — 21/03/2025

Visionary Leadership and Strategic Diversification

Armstrong Group, a prominent Midlands-based manufacturer specialising in precision manufacturing in stainless steel, aluminium, and composite materials, is driving growth through strategic diversification into aerospace and defence sectors. Operating from an expansive 160,000-square-foot facility in North Coventry, Armstrong employs around 160 people, significantly contributing to the Midlands economy. Under new private ownership and the dynamic leadership of Managing Director Richard Lindoe, the company has undergone remarkable transformation since July 2020, enhancing operational efficiency, technological innovation, and workforce morale.

Lindoe strongly emphasises workforce development: "Our employees are central to everything we do. Fair pay, clear career pathways, and a supportive work environment are essential to our success. We have family members here, which is a testament to the fact that our workforce is secure and well looked after with good benefits. We have apprenticeships working in different departments to continue supporting our growth."

Initially confronted with significant operational challenges intensified by COVID-19 disruptions and structural inefficiencies, Lindoe quickly implemented comprehensive restructuring. He streamlined management roles, notably consolidating multiple production management positions into a single cohesive operations management role led by long-term employee Ryan Lally. David Ladley joined as Group Finance Director in 2022 to further support the company’s solid growth plans. Lindoe reflects, "When I arrived, we had 17 separate managers for each unit, which limited collaboration. By creating a cohesive management structure, we've empowered our workforce, improved operational efficiency, and strengthened team collaboration significantly. I believe we have a pretty strong team around us now." One of Lindoe’s common statements is that ‘Improvements never end,’ and that commitment is evident in the factory and the team making parts every day.

Building on Automotive Excellence and Expanding into Aerospace and Defence

Armstrong’s solid foundation in automotive manufacturing has been built on decades of delivering precision-engineered components to luxury brands such as Rolls Royce, McLaren, and Bentley. Their exceptional quality standards are demonstrated by an impressive parts-per-million (PPM) rejection rate of just 113 PPM in 2024, greatly surpassing Rolls Royce’s rigorous standard of 10,000 PPM. Armstrong also received the coveted Supplier Excellence Award from McLaren in 2023. Lindoe emphasises, "Our automotive experience ensures we consistently meet and exceed the highest standards expected by global luxury manufacturers."

Leveraging this heritage, Armstrong Group is now actively expanding into aerospace and defence, securing contracts to develop carbon fibre components with Rolls Royce Aero Engines for Trent 900 series turbines. Lindoe comments, "Securing aerospace contracts validates our capabilities to meet stringent industry standards, significantly broadening our market reach." Additionally, Armstrong's involvement in other innovative projects, such as manufacturing cooling plates for Fortescue's electric mining trucks—each requiring precise battery temperature management—further showcases the company's advanced engineering capabilities.

Strategic Investments and Growth Ambitions

Under new leadership, Armstrong has made substantial investments, including £950,000 in 2021 for an additional Trumpf Laser Cell and £2.3 million in 2023 for a carbon fibre manufacturing cell supported with autoclaves, kit cutting, and two Breton five-axis CNC machines. In 2025, the company is investing a further £700,000 in a robotic bonding assembly line—all of which have significantly enhanced Armstrong’s competitive position, allowing it to effectively compete in demanding new sectors.

With a current annual turnover of around £25 million, Armstrong is optimistic about significantly scaling revenues to £50 million and beyond. However, Lindoe remains cautious, acknowledging the intense global competition facing UK manufacturers. Reflecting this balance, he stresses, "Manufacturing in Britain faces severe threats from international competitors, especially low-cost regions. To stay competitive and continue growing, we must always prioritise continuous investment in innovation, technology, and diversification into emerging sectors. What we can provide to our customers is our location relative to the UK OEMs that demand rapid response to engineering changes and a far shorter supply chain partnership to support JIT demands."

Scaling for the Future

Ilona Pitt, Director of Made in Group, recently visited Armstrong and remarked, "I was thoroughly impressed by the scale and ambition of Armstrong Group. Their strategic move into aerospace and defence highlights the incredible potential beyond their already impressive automotive heritage. With strong leadership and continuous investments, they're well-positioned to capture significant new opportunities and drive manufacturing excellence across multiple sectors. We're very proud to support their exciting journey."

Armstrong Group’s continued growth, strategic diversification, and robust investments exemplify the resilience and potential of manufacturing in the Midlands and across Great Britain.