Following the British public’s decision to vote to leave the European Union, global cable manufacturer Tratos has reaffirmed its commitment to UK manufacturing.
Tratos’ £10m investment plans, which will create 40 new jobs, remain on course at its Knowsley factory in Merseyside.
Tratos, a company with a Pro Euro stance, had an unusual perspective on the UK Referendum – with one foot in mainland Europe – Italy – and the other in the UK, where some of its manufacturing bases are located.
Maurizio Bragagni, CEO of Tratos Ltd said: “This is a momentous day for the UK and Europe. The European Union map will be very different moving forward and we look forward to the challenges this may present.  As a 50 year old family business, Tratos was an early adopter of a pan-European and now global view of the market place for our cable. The company remains fully committed to cable manufacturing in the UK, for us it is business as usual.”

Tratos has become the newest member to sign the Europacable Industry Charter, joining an elite group of European and worldwide cable manufacturers that have pledged to uphold ethical, sustainablehigh quality cable development and manufacturing.
Europacable represents wire and cable manufacturers in Europe. Members include the world’s largest producers as well as highly specialised smallmedium sized businesses from across Europe.

Ennio Bragagni Capaccini, vice president of Tratos Group, said after signing the Charter: “We are proud to add our name to the Industry Charter. Its principles mirror our own and we are fully committed to delivering continuous improvement in our business where we can.”
Launched in November 2015, the Charter sets out shared industry principles and objectives. It aims for signatories to play a proactive role in monitoring and evaluating emerging issues and finding innovative solutions that produce cables that exceed minimum requirements.

“It took Greenland Three Years to complete its Two Year Exit from Europe Greenland has a population smaller than that of Croydon and has one issue – fish.” Lord O’Donnell

There has been much talk about the volumes of red tape involved in being part of Europe. The UK has been dealing with it for more than four decades and, under all that tape, found something worth the effort.

In the face of all of that enforced uniformity the UK has managed to take the best out of the allegiance - and remain true to itself. Sterling remains while the UK immersed itself in an open market. 
A vote to go will trigger an avalanche of administration that will make the day-to-day tape-taming pale into insignificance and the chances of the UK emerging within the prescribed two-year exit window are unrealistic at best.

Tratos has once again received the "Company to Watch" award from CERVED, the leading information and statistics source in Italy and one of Europe’s major rating agencies. The award recognises organisations which stand out within their sector for their economic and financial performance. Winners are also judged on their commitment and dedication to the rules and ethics of business. CERVED supports companies that promote innovation and investment, using research and development to benefit and grow their own business and their market sector as a whole. Just over two years ago Tratos received an Award from the UKTI for its substantial investment in the redevelopment of its manufacturing facilities in Knowsley, Merseyside.

Ing Elisabetta Bragagni Capaccini has been appointed Health & Safety Director at global cable manufacturer Tratos. Her appointment comes alongside the company raising H&S responsibilities to board level. A fully qualified electrical engineer, Ing Elisabetta Bragagni Capaccini is granddaughter of the company’s founder, Egidio Capaccini, and steps up from her role as the company’s health and safety officer at its Knowsley factory in Merseyside. Working alongside UK health and safety consultants, ELAS, Ing Elisabetta Bragagni Capaccini, 33, will oversee the implementation of a rigorous programme of continuous improvement at Knowsley to reach ever higher safety standards that will be mirrored in its factories in Italy.

A further £10m investment has been earmarked for Italian-owned Tratos Ltd’s UK base in Merseyside, creating 40 new jobs. The structural expansion work at the Knowsley plant, completed late last year, has expanded the factory four-fold and brought 150,000 sq ft of new industrial and office space into use. The quality of the development was recognised by the Knowsley Business and Regeneration Awards in November last year where Tratos was awarded Commercial Development of the Year.

Cable manufacturer Tratos, which produces cable in Italy and the UK, has won a framework contract worth up to three million euros to supply railway signalling and power cables for Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI). The company’s hard-surface, high resistance, ultra-flexible cabling is built to withstand abrasion and high stress-levels, so is ideally suited for rail applications. The combination of a European manufacturing base’s standards, high performance and the cable’s generous bending radius for easier installation won particular favour over imports from the Far East and the company will supply the special 3kv cable over the next five years.