Dudley firm unveils 'revolutionary' new carbon fibre

The new material is heat resistant, lightweight, cheaper to make and produces zero waste in its production, while two major cruise ship builders are already talking to the company about its use.

Carbon Fibre Preforms has spent the last seven years developing the material, called FR10, which it says has the potential to revolutionise the panel industry worldwide. CFP is now partnering with the private investor network Growthdeck (www.growthdeck.com) to raise finance for expansion of production to meet predicted global demand from end users across the train, aeronautical and shipbuilding industries as well as oil and gas drilling sectors.

CFP says the interest centres of FR10’s potential use for panels instead of stainless steel, because of its ability to meet stringent fire safety regulations. The company says that, unlike other forms of carbon fibre, finished panels of FR10 are heat resistant at temperatures up to 1,200 degrees Centigrade for up to four hours.

More specifically, CFP’s managing director, Simon Price, is in “significant talks” with Mayer Werft and STX, the two largest cruise ship builders in the world, and has already become a strategic partner with the Japanese giant Toray Industries, a global leader in the production of raw carbon fibre.

FR10 is created by a patented process known as Rapid Output Controllable Composite Shapes (ROCCS) at the company’s 30,000 sq ft factory in Pedmore Road, Dudley. This patented process takes a mixture of chopped carbon fibre, a special resin and combines it with water. This is processed to create, in a high tower before being compressed and moulded at high temperature to cure the resin, creating the strong, final fire-retardant material. FR10 will be available in three product lines from 2mm to 20mm in thickness.

“We have been developing and investing in FR10 since 2011,” said Simon, a veteran of the plastics and carbon fibre industry. His father was the late Roy Price, a pioneer in UK plastics development. “We knew as soon as we heard about this process that it had tremendous value with huge potential demand. And we are really excited that after a short period establishing supply of raw materials, production methods and a demand pipeline, we are ready to launch this revolutionary product onto the global market.”

So far, CFP has invested £5m in the ROCCS production process and is forecasting annual turnover of £8.6m by the end of 2019 and £16.3m by 2020 with earnings in excess of £9.2m. It is currently looking for an investment of £1.5m with half to be raised by Growthdeck, which is offering minimum investment units of £1,000.

Simon Emary, of Growthdeck, said: “As soon as I visited their West Midlands production facility I could see CFP had the potential to become a great British engineering success story.”