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Tony Inskip reflects on Stadium’s 100+ years of manufacturing innovation.

stadiumTony Inskip, Commercial Director of Stadium Group

The Stadium Group of the 21st Century has come a long way from its origins and with recent strategic purchases it has become a leading provider of integrated electronic technologies to the global electronics market. Employing some 1000 employees and AIM Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Stadium has a turnover of circa £50m. With its UK based design and manufacturing centres of excellence the Stadium Group can now offer its customers a complete, streamlined supply chain.

The original Stadium Company was founded in 1911 by Stephen Wiseman and was a pioneer in the new technology of the day – injection moulding of plastics, specialising in “multiple mouldings” for the motor vehicle accessories market.

Stadium became much better known from 1961 as manufacturers of cycle and motorcycle accessories, including “Stadium” goggles and crash helmets, with manufacturing sites in London, Birmingham and South Wales.

Stadium made their move into the electronics market in 1980 with the acquisition of an electronics manufacturing business and following a major new account win with Black & Decker, the company relocated to what was to become the home of the current headquarters, Hartlepool. Further acquisitions followed and Stadium Group was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1996.

In 2000, the company acquired a 15,000sqm manufacturing facility in China, now Stadium Asia, to offer a low cost offshore manufacturing base to customers.

More strategic business purchases followed including that of Norfolk based power supply manufacturer Daren Electronics, renamed Stadium Power. The power division has since been strengthened with the acquisitions of KRP Power Source, a UK specialist distributor of power supplies, Ferrus Power a specialist manufacturer of custom power supplies and Fox Industries Limited a specialist manufacturer of EMC filter products.

To add to their EMS capabilities Rugby-based Zirkon Ltd was added in 2008 and in 2011 the company undertook a strategic review of its portfolio and re-organised the group to focus on electronic technologies and the final plastics business in London was sold.

The most recent acquisition in 2012 was the long-established UK specialist HMI/MMI Interface and Displays business IGT Industries Ltd as Stadium expands its electronics portfolio into niche technologies.

Stadium Group is AIM Listed on the London Stock Exchange and has a turnover of £44,000,000 with 1000 employees and is a leading provider of integrated electronic technologies to the professional electronics market with their own owned manufacturing sites in the UK and Asia. The acquisition of IGT Industries, combined with their existing power supply manufacturing and EMS businesses, means Stadium can now offer its customers a fully integrated design and build solution from a single supplier source, creating added value throughout the product life cycle and reducing time to market.

Tony Inskip, Commercial Director of Stadium Group comments; ”Stadium Group Plc. is now a market leading electronic technologies operation with over 40 in-house design engineers and 100 years’ experience of providing design, engineering and manufacturing excellence with a robust supply chain offering global component procurement. Our new “integrated technologies” business model will enable customers to take advantage of a single supplier source with extensive product and service capabilities.”

Stadium group can now offer a unique service to their customers; a single, integrated source of supply for the design and manufacture of Intelligent Interface and Display Systems, Power Supplies, EMC Filters, and all Electronic Manufacturing Service requirements. This integrated supply chain will allow customers to rationalise their supplier base and reduce time to market. Markets currently served by Stadium include; Industrial, Transport, Aerospace, Marine, Defence, LED Technology, Security, Medical and Emerging Technologies.

Stadium provide full turn-key solutions including; Electronic, Mechanical and Software Design, PCB Assembly, Box Build and Test, Supply Chain Solutions, NPI, Quick-Turn Production, Low to Medium production volume in the UK, High volume in Asia, Full Box Build and  a Medical Clean Room manufacturing suite.

Tony Inskip continues.” The acquisition of IGT signals a major step forward in delivering our future strategy. Stadium is transitioning from primarily a provider of EMS to an electronic technologies group focussed upon the provision of a range of niche technologies with significant intellectual property which, when combined with the existing EMS capability, enable the design and manufacture of a range of key subsystems to suit specific customer applications. The group is developing into a build-to-print manufacturer to a true design and manufacture partner for its customers.”

Key areas of focus for future development include; EMS offering a mix of offshore/re-shore with a fast-track facility already place at the Hartlepool head office, full solution build and market focus in emerging technologies i.e. electric vehicle, smart metering, led lighting. HMI multifunctional control systems and signage for aircraft, MIL, Marine and industrial applications. Developments in Power technology into areas such as MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation & Heat Recovery) to support SAP appendix Q (HVAC market) and LED drivers and medical custom designs to meet EN60601-1 3rd edition.

Products available from Stadium include;

Intelligent Interface Solutions including HMI Control Assemblies, Capacitive Switching Systems, Capacitive Touch Screens, Back-lit Capacitive Switching and Keyboards, Thin-Film backlighting, Membrane Keypads, Control Panel Overlays and Systems Integration

Power Supplies, AC-DC and DC-DC Converters, Custom Engineered Designs, Intelligent Battery Chargers, Medical power supplies to EN60601-1-3 and EN54-4 for Fire and Security, LED Drivers and EMC Filters.

Integrated Electronic Manufacturing Services (iEMS) from electronic, mechanical and software design, PCB assembly, box build, global supply chain management and logistics – delivering a complete end-to-end managed solution throughout the product life cycle.

www.stadium-electronics.com