The boss of Coventry Metalcraft, a longstanding Coventry firm, has urged the government to do more to support Britain's specialist carmakers, insisting the country has the skills and talent to grow. Brendan O'Toole, Owner and MD of the company, which has operated for over 40 years, said the UK should focus on its strengths in low-volume manufacturing, engineering, and bespoke vehicles rather than competing with mass producers.
Call for Funding and Apprenticeship Support
Mr O'Toole called for clearer access to government funding and loans, alongside greater support for apprenticeships, skills training, and British craftsmanship. He told the Express: "I'd like a clear route to some government funding and government loans. If I need to do something specialist, I've got to go out and get a certain loan, and it's always short-term, difficult and expensive."
He also said more could be done to encourage young people into skilled manufacturing careers, noting that apprenticeships were costly for businesses despite being crucial to the industry's future. "I think support for apprenticeships and skills learning could be better supported. I think manufacturing doesn't get the same support as housing, for example, because housing is a policy," he added.
Connecting with Schools and Retaining Talent
Manufacturers also need to be better connected with schools so that young people with practical abilities are encouraged towards engineering and manufacturing careers, he said. University is often viewed as the traditional route, meaning talented young people with practical skills can sometimes be overlooked. "Us manufacturers, we're not connected well enough with schools because the route is usually university," he said.
Mr O'Toole recalled meeting a young man in the Netherlands who had gone to university because his mother wanted him to before discovering his talent as a mechanic. "He had been mechanicising for six months, and I've never seen a mechanic like him," he said.
Specialist Projects and Industry Outlook
Coventry Metalcraft has worked on many high-profile specialist vehicles, including Spyker models and Bentley projects, recreations, and prototypes. The company's relationship with Dutch supercar maker Spyker dates back to 2000, when the wider team worked on the first Spyker prototype. Coventry Metalcraft built the hand-hammered aluminum body for the Spyker C8 Preliator XXV in just six weeks before shipping it to the Netherlands for final assembly. The exclusive supercar was officially unveiled during Monterey Car Week at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering on August 15. Spyker will limit global production to just 25 hand-commissioned units, each featuring a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine producing nearly 800 horsepower, paired with a classic six-speed manual transmission and Spyker's signature exposed gear linkage.
O'Toole said: "Spyker Cars is the best thing we've ever worked on." Spyker owner Victor Muller said demand for the limited-production sports car was strong, with 19 of the 25 cars planned for production already sold. He expects the remaining six cars to be sold by the end of the week, and told The Autopian: "You shouldn't present a car like this only digitally. People need to feel the leather and see the details."
Speaking to the Express on the industry as a whole, Mr O'Toole warned that the industry was facing a race against time to replace an ageing workforce. "We need to replace people because it's an ageing workforce. So we have got it, but we need to have it tomorrow." He said Britain had "generational talent" which could be directed towards manufacturing if the right opportunities were provided, and added that he'd also like to avoid losing British brands to overseas buyers. "The talent doesn't need to leave the country," he said. "We need to retain it, keep it here because there's great things to work on. Our innovation is top. Our engineering is top. Our bespoke skills are more in demand than ever before."
He pointed to major British automotive names including Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, and McLaren as examples of companies that could benefit from retaining that talent. Looking ahead, Mr O'Toole said he wanted to see a forum of small manufacturers given a more direct voice in government, rather than having their concerns filtered through MPs with competing priorities. "I'd like a forum to be made up of small manufacturers that actually had a voice in government and not a watered-down voice through MPs who've got a lot of other things to worry about."
He said Britain should be proud of the specialist vehicles being produced here. "The cars that are built in this country, you can sing them from the rafters. They are the top in the world and companies are coming to us because of that." Mr O'Toole is highly optimistic about the future of British manufacturing, saying the UK had repeatedly adapted to changes in the automotive industry and could continue to do so if it focused on its strengths. "I think we should concentrate on being the best at what we do," he said, adding that for Coventry Metalcraft, that means continuing to build highly specialised products with a combination of traditional craftsmanship and modern engineering. "There's going to be more demand than this country can keep up with."
