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Gurit
Island company pioneers revolution in Advanced Composite Materials
During the 1980s there was a revolutionary change in boatbuilding techniques, as some builders moved from aluminium and conventional glass reinforced polyester to advanced composites. Gurit, formed in the late 1970s on the Isle of Wight, was instrumental in driving this change. Gurit (previously SP Systems) is now a leading global supplier of advanced composite solutions and has a particular focus on three application areas – marine, wind energy and automotive.
Gurit moved into new purpose-built headquarters in May 1999. The eight-acre site in Newport now houses much of its manufacturing work, research and development and operational activities. Gurit opened an Australian sales office in the late 1980s and an additional manufacturing plant, based in Albacete, Spain, was opened in 2001. The acquisition of Gurit in 2002 by the Swiss group, Gurit-Heberlein, also means that Gurit is able to call upon the broad base of composite technologies offered by sister companies within the composite division, Gurit Composite Technologies. In July 2003, Gurit acquired ATC Chemicals, which is now known as Gurit (North America). As well as a growing number of global sites, Gurit has a strong network of distributors and agents around the world.
The increasing number of global sites demonstrates the overall growth that Gurit has seen over the past few years. In 1997 the turnover was around £15m, but by 2002 had reached over £50m, largely attributable to the company’s involvement in the wind energy industry. Gurit is also active in helping to promote and develop the Isle of Wight into a centre of excellence for composites. They are a major contributor to the composites cluster, which brings together all companies on the Island, who are involved with composites, to achieve this aim.
Gurit believes its approach of combining material science, structural design and process engineering is key to its success. These three disciplines, combined with a highly dedicated and professional global team, enable the company to offer customers an all round optimized solution, whether it is a standard 'off the shelf’ material, a complete materials package, onsite technical support or structural engineering services. It is this approach that Gurit will carry into the future as it continues to provide its customers with what they have come to expect from the company – a commitment to the development of cost effective, high performance composite materials that will stand the test of time.
Contact details
| Gurit St. Cross Business Park Newport Isle of Wight PO30 5WU |
Tel +44 (0) 1983 828000 |
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