Lord Mayor pays tribute to Coventry businessman who helped save manufacturing company

By Nicky Godding

13 December 2021

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The Lord Mayor of Coventry has paid tribute to the boss of a Coventry manufacturing business who helped to save the firm and the jobs of its loyal staff.

MPL Fabrications, based on Alderman’s Green Industrial Estate, is a light sheet metal company working for clients in a range of sectors - from making parts for lifts through to bespoke prototype projects for the Ministry of Defence.

The company, which employs 15 staff, is now run by Director Kevin Duffy who has kept the business going as a legacy to his father-in-law Roy Hill, who started the business 35 years ago but passed away eight years ago.

His successor died in 2020, leaving Kevin, who had taken early retirement from Jaguar Land Rover, to manage the company.

MPL Fabrications is now back in profit and has taken on another apprentice to continue the company’s growth.

Coventry’s Lord Mayor, Councillor John McNicholas, paid a visit to the company along with Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber president Tom Mongan and membership manager Hazel Pilling as the Chamber has been supporting the company.

Councillor McNicholas said: “It was great to see a Coventry manufacturing company bouncing back after such a difficult period.

“Great credit has to go to Kevin for leading the business and supporting the employment of so many people.”

Kevin said: “Many of the staff started as apprentices and have been here for many years. It was important to my wife and I that we kept the business going for them and I am delighted that we have been able to return a profit and take on a new apprentice.

“We are grateful to the Lord Mayor for visiting and for all the support we have had from the Chamber.”

Tom Mongan said: “I am very pleased that, after meeting Kevin Duffy at his first Chamber networking event, that we have been able to support the business in a number of ways.

“When we talk about the positive impact that business has, this is a great example of that. It is providing employment to 15 people and is supporting the next generation of engineers.

“It was great to go out and see Kevin alongside the Lord Mayor, who was very impressed by the company’s story.”

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.