Windpower sector driving expansion at David Brown

The Huddersfield company is working on two prototype gear boxes for a wind turbine manufacturer which could lead to orders worth up to 250m a year.

This would create up to 700 jobs in the firm and its supply chain, chief executive Geoff Charlson told the Yorkshire Post.

Part funded by a 2.5m government grant, the 160-tonne gear boxes will be delivered to Clipper Windpower's new factory in the North East next year.

They will be tested for a project to build a 10MW offshore wind turbine, one of the largest under development.

Clipper could win orders for 100 turbines a year for offshore wind farms that are planned for the North Sea over the next decade.

As a lead supplier, David Brown would face huge demand for its gear boxes, which will cost 2.5m each.

To take advantage of this and other opportunities, Mr Charlson is planning to change the structure of the Huddersfield operation, which will lead to "significant" investment in plant and machinery and job creation.

He told the Yorkshire Post: "We have a 17-acre site here that is probably not the most efficient plant. We are looking at reallocation of resources to make sure the structure of the business is capable of servicing high-volume significant growth opportunities."

The company may consider other sites nearby and is in talks with the local council and Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency, about opportunities in the town to help its growth.

"It's transferring assets we have and buying assets that we will need," he said, adding that he wants to create an environment for the business that has "more of a 21st century feel".

He said: "If there's a cost neutral opportunity to relocate part of the business we will do that."

David Brown is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

It operates across a wide range of sectors, including defence, oil and gas, metals and rail and is active in places including China, Russia, India, and North and South America.

Mr Charlson said the recession of 2009 "created the imperative" to refocus the business.

"What appeared were opportunities in renewables," he added. "If our traditional markets have started to slow down, then we will refocus on higher growth."

David Brown is also targeting high-speed rail and has a joint venture in China to capitalise on domestic growth opportunities.

Mr Charlson said: "Future year on year growth is going to be fairly significant."

Alongside offshore wind, the company is targeting the UK and Europe market for the refurbishment of existing gear boxes and onshore gear box supply, via another joint venture in China.

The 150m-turnover group is also involved with solar energy, hydro-electric and tidal power projects around the world.

It recently won orders to supply gear boxes for hydro applications in India.

David Brown is part of the Clyde Blowers Group, owned by Jim McColl, who is one of Scotland's richest men. He acquired the business in 2008 from Textron, the American congolmerate.

Mr Charlson described the new ownership as "liberating". He added: "It has the ability to develop the latent potential in the business in a way that I have always wanted to do.

"It's taking 150 years of developed capability and then expanding that as leverage to the significant growth that the business is capable of."

Company nurtures talent with an MSc

David Brown employs 1,174 people worldwide, including 450 in Huddersfield. It launched its Gear Academy last year and more than 400 people, including employees and customers from across the world, have enrolled on its courses.

Geoff Charlson said: "We have some fantastic talent in the business. Unless we continue to invest in it and grow capability we will loss our share and won't keep pace with changing global opportunities for new technology."

Last week the David Brown Msc in gear technology received validation at Huddersfield University and will be available from autumn to the company's employees, wherever they are in the world, and post-graduate students.

Group technology director Graham Penning said: "One of the primary objectives of this was to secure our tribal knowledge. We are proud of what we do."

The David Brown brand is famous for its association with Aston Martin cars – it provided the DB initials – and tractors. It has a long history of work in defence, providing gear boxes for Spitfire fighter planes during the Second World War and more recently for nuclear submarines and tanks.