Pickering invests £5M in UK and Czech Republic facilities

Now in its 50th year, The Pickering Group is undergoing a significant expansion at its UK and Czech Republic sites in order to support excellent growth and new product development. The group of companies, which includes Pickering Electronics, the pioneer in reed relay miniaturization and performance, and  Pickering Interfaces, the leading supplier of modular signal switching and simulation solutions for use in electronic test and verification, has already completed a refurbishment of its UK interfaces’ site, and work at the relay company is due for completion in Q1 2019.

In addition to redeveloping its global headquarters and manufacturing centre in the UK, Pickering is also investing in an additional 3000m2 facility in the Czech Republic. This Czech facility is already producing many of Pickering Interfaces’ vast array of switching and simulation products in the industry for PXI, LXI, and PCI applications, including value add assembly such as cable and connector solutions. In total, the investment in the UK and Czech is expected to reach £5M.

Comments CEO Keith Moore: “Despite predictions as far back as the 1970s that our relay business would have a limited lifetime, we have seen exactly the reverse. We are challenged by our customers – including our sister company Pickering Interfaces – to deliver ever-higher performance in miniature packages, and that means that demand for our reed relays has never been higher. Similarly, demand for our simulation, test and verification products is also increasing, thanks to the complexity of today’s automotive and semiconductor manufacturing systems and the need for automated test processes. Therefore, we needed to streamline our manufacturing operations and add more capacity.”

“We expect this to be an ongoing process, especially in Czech Republic as we look to add new products and support activities”, he adds. Pickering is now a global company with support locations in the USA, Germany and China with representation across Asia, the rest of Europe and the Americas.