We are proud to announce that TBS Engineering Ltd has been recognised at the Gloucestershire Business Awards 2025, winning the prestigious Most Innovative Business of the Year 2025 Award, alongside a standout achievement for our Design Engineer Apprentice, Kobe Pope, who received the Most Commended Apprentice of the Year 2025 Award.

These accolades highlight not only our commitment to pioneering automation solutions in global energy storage market, but also our investment in developing engineering excellence for the future.

Innovation with Impact

Since September 2023, TBS has pushed the boundaries of what automation can deliver in one of the most challenging areas of automotive battery manufacturing—manual lead plate handling during cell assembly.

In January 2024, TBS launched its Smart Semi-Automated Stack Loading Module, a breakthrough that directly integrates with our existing, patent-protected cell building machinery. This system completely removes the need for operators to physically lift lead plate stacks, previously totalling 15 tonnes per person per shift under extreme temperature, heavy PPE, and high-risk conditions.

Our automation reduces plate handling time from 10 seconds to 2.5 seconds, transforming process safety, improving precision alignment, and creating significant benefits in operator retention and wellbeing across the sector.

Following overwhelming operator feedback and strong customer demand, TBS has already sold 20 Smart Automation Modules, with 10 now fully operational, and multiple full pallet unloading automation systems currently being installed worldwide.
This innovation impacts more than 8,000 operators globally, setting a new industry standard for safety-led automation and operational efficiency.

“The solution has revolutionised factory floor efficiency and worker wellbeing in the automotive battery manufacturing sector.” Steve Sharpe – Group Technical Director

This innovation has not only transformed productivity and safety but has also sparked strong demand and growth opportunities for TBS globally — achievements that clearly impressed the judges.

Recognising Rising Talent: Kobe Pope

Kobe has shown extraordinary progression throughout his apprenticeship—moving seamlessly from hands-on manufacturing environments into a key role within our engineering design team.

By mastering SolidWorks, supporting critical delivery timelines during peak sales activity, and helping implement our next-generation Bill of Materials system, Kobe has strengthened internal process efficiency and fostered collaboration across experience levels within the team.

His enthusiasm for knowledge-sharing, innovation, and team support reflects the values that sit at the core of TBS—making his recognition especially meaningful.

Driving Global Support & Customer Success

To further strengthen our partnerships, TBS continues to expand its worldwide service infrastructure under TBS Aftermarket—with our Mexico Hub launched in April 2024, Europe Hub launched in Sept 2025 and India planned in 2026. These investments will provide faster parts access, reduced downtime, and enhanced technical support for customers across key battery production regions.

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Partnering to Power the Future

With over 55 years of engineering excellence, 200+ skilled employees, and more than a decade of building engineering talent through our apprenticeship programme, TBS remains committed to delivering smarter, safer, and more efficient automation solutions —from plate making to final assembly.

These awards are not just a celebration—they are a reflection of the progress we drive for our customers every day.

Together, we’re shaping the future of manufacturing.

At TBS Engineering, innovation doesn’t start and end with our technology—it begins with our people. For more than a decade, we have invested in developing the next generation of engineering specialists through our apprenticeship programme, delivered in partnership with Gloucestershire Engineering Training (GET). This long-standing collaboration continues to prove its impact, as this year two of our apprentices were recognised at the GET Presentation Evening Awards, one of the most respected apprentice celebration events in the region.

Oliver Richings: Setting the Standard in Precision and Peer Recognition

This year, Oliver Richings earned shortlist nominations in not one, but two prestigious GET award categories:

• Best Overall Miller Apprentice
• Apprentices’ Apprentice of the Year – Barnwood

To be nominated by training assessors for technical excellence is a significant achievement. To additionally be recognised by fellow apprentices in the GET “peer-voted” category speaks volumes about Oliver’s character. His nominations reflect both his technical ability on the milling machines and the leadership and respect he has built among those training alongside him. His progress marks him as one of the most promising precision engineers emerging from the region.

Hannah Kingdon: Championing Versatility, Determination, and Elite Skill

Hannah’s award journey was nothing short of extraordinary. She received GET nominations in several highly competitive categories:

• Best Overall Turner Apprentice
• Best Overall CNC Apprentice
• Best Overall Turner CNC Apprentice

She then went on to secure wins in two of the evening’s most celebrated awards:

– Best Overall Fitter Apprentice
 – Apprentices’ Apprentice of the Year – Forest of Dean

Winning the Fitter award demonstrated her mechanical understanding, assembly skill, and engineering fundamentals. Securing Apprentices’ Apprentice of the Year—voted by her peers—confirmed what we have always known inside TBS: Hannah is the rare engineer who combines high technical competence with a collaborative mindset, resilience, and a determination to continually raise her own bar. These dual wins reflect the kind of multi-discipline engineer that the industry needs for the future.

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The Bigger Picture: A Workforce Built on Opportunity, Expertise, and Community

Their achievements underscore a central truth: apprenticeships drive industry progress. They shape careers, build confidence, and strengthen operational capabilities from the ground up.

TBS Engineering has championed engineering apprenticeships for 11+ years, working side by side with GET to help young engineers transition from learning into long-term career success. We take pride in the fact that many of our past apprentices remain part of our business today, advancing into specialist, senior, and leadership roles—continuing to develop, innovate, and share their skills across our global organisation.

What sets the TBS apprenticeship experience apart is the balance between hands-on mechanical training and exposure to high-speed, cutting-edge automation equipment—the same standard of machinery used by international battery manufacturers across the globe. Our apprentices don’t just learn engineering principles—they apply them to real industrial challenges, meaningful internal improvement projects, and technology delivered to some of the world’s most demanding manufacturing environments.

To find our more visit: TBS Apprenticeships

TBS Engineering is proud to announce a significant milestone in our global aftermarket expansion with the launch of our new EU spare parts distribution hub, now fully operational in Italy. Formally opened on 2nd September 2025, this strategic investment reinforces our commitment to delivering industry-leading service and technical support to our battery manufacturing partners across Europe.

As the demand for high-speed automation equipment continues to grow, so too does the need for regionally optimised support infrastructure. With spare parts and service stock now positioned within the heart of the European manufacturing network, TBS customers can expect shorter response windows, faster fulfilment, and greater peace of mind, no matter where their operations are based.

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A Strategic Hub Designed Around Customer Success

Our Italian distribution centre has been established to directly address one of the biggest operational risks in advanced battery manufacturing—unplanned downtime. By positioning critical spare parts closer to customer facilities, and aligning stock availability with the realities of European logistics, TBS is improving not only delivery speed, but operational resilience and service reliability.

This new hub adds to our expanding global network, working seamlessly alongside our UK headquarters and international support teams to ensure our aftermarket promise is delivered wherever our machines operate.

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What This Means for Our European Customers

From 2nd September 2025 onward, TBS aftermarket support in Europe is evolving. The Italy Hub enables:

• Reduced lead times – Significantly quicker delivery of spare parts across the EU supply corridor
• Improved reliability – Localised inventory means components are stocked closer to your operations
• Minimised downtime – Critical parts are available exactly when production demands them
• Seamless support – Fully aligned with our global customer-first aftersales model

Whether you are planning scheduled maintenance, responding to urgent replacement needs, or scaling production output, our Italy hub is designed to keep your equipment performing at maximum efficiency and optimal precision.

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More Than Distribution – A Partnership Approach to Aftermarket Support

TBS Engineering has built its reputation on being more than a supplier. This hub is part of our broader mission to act as a strategic engineering partner, offering full production-line support from platemaking through to final assembly, backed by globally coordinated technical expertise and regional accessibility.

Investing in Italy allows TBS to:

• Streamline parts fulfilment for large-scale automation systems
• Improve service reach into key European battery manufacturing regions
• Maintain strict quality control over spare parts distribution
• Support both rapid response requirements and long-term maintenance planning

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Find Out More About TBS Aftermarket Support in Europe

Our new Italian hub reflects our ongoing commitment to keeping your TBS systems running at their very best.

For more information, contact us at: [email protected]

TBS Engineering is pleased to announce that Sonia Martinez, current General Manager of the TBS Aftermarket Hub in Monterrey, Mexico, will now also take on leadership of our TBS USA Aftermarket Hub in Kutztown, Pennsylvania.

This appointment marks a strategic step forward in strengthening our regional aftermarket operational model across North America, aligning Mexico and USA hub leadership to ensure deeper continuity, greater responsiveness, and a more unified service experience for customers operating at scale throughout the battery manufacturing sector.

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A Leader Built on Procurement Excellence and Strategic Alliances

Sonia brings extensive industry credentials, underpinned by years of management, procurement, and supply chain leadership. Throughout her career, she has delivered measurable value in:

• Operational cost efficiencies and cost savings initiatives
• Supply chain risk reduction and mitigation planning
• Vendor negotiations and strategic contract development
• Long-term procurement agreements aligned to organisational and customer needs

Her ability to build trusted strategic alliances results in sustainable, high-integrity partnerships that deliver long-term value. She is widely recognised for fostering supplier relationships rooted in:

• Integrity
• Collaboration
• Quality assurance
• Transparent, customer-first service models

These values have played a key role in strengthening TBS’s regional service infrastructure and ensuring critical components remain accessible, reliable, and strategically sourced for our customers.

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Confidence for Customers Across South and North America

With Sonia’s expanded leadership, TBS customers can continue to expect a robust, consistent service delivery experience across both aftermarket hubs. Her appointment ensures that:

✅ Customer management remains central to every aftermarket interaction
✅ Parts procurement is strategically aligned for faster response and reduced downtime
✅ Regional hub operations operate with shared best practice, quality control, and service consistency

By unifying leadership oversight in Mexico and the USA, TBS is better equipped to support partners operating across borders, ensuring service excellence travels seamlessly with our machines.

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A Network Designed to Support the Fastest Automation Systems

The TBS aftermarket infrastructure has evolved rapidly over the past 12 months, with our Monterrey hub proving its critical value as a regional support centre for parts distribution and engineering service enablement. With expanded hub leadership now in place across Pennsylvania, customers will benefit from:

• Greater alignment in regional parts availability forecasting
• Procurement strategies that support uptime for high-throughput equipment
• Stronger supplier agreements built around equipment performance needs
• A team empowered by experienced leadership and operational excellence

This leadership move ensures customers across automotive and industrial battery manufacturing stay supported by engineers and supply chain experts who understand the sector from the inside out.

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Explore the TBS Aftermarket Advantage

Sonia’s appointment supports a much bigger promise—TBS Engineering’s mission to be more than a supplier.

We are committed to providing 360-degree aftermarket support. For more information email: [email protected]

TBS Engineering Embarks on 22 Mile (35km) Charity Battery Walk to Honor Viv Empson & Support Breast Cancer Now

On May 14, 2025, the TBS Engineering team will take on a 22-mile (35km) challenge, walking from Windsor Street, Elmstone Hardwicke, Staverton, Lansdown, Cheltenham to TBS HQ in Brockworth, Gloucester, UK—retracing the company’s history while carrying a lead acid battery produced on TBS equipment, every step of the way. This event is being held in memory of Viv Empson, a respected and much-loved member of the TBS family, while also raising £20,000 for Breast Cancer Now, a charity dedicated to life-saving research and support for those affected by breast cancer.

Honouring Viv Empson – A Trailblazer & Leader

This year’s walk is dedicated to Viv Empson, TBS’s former HR and Finance Director, who passed away from breast cancer five years ago.

Viv joined TBS Engineering in 1989, when the company was still based in terraced houses on Windsor Street, Cheltenham. Over the course of 31 years, she helped shape the company’s culture and expansion, playing a key role in its transformation from a small local engineering firm into a global leader in battery manufacturing automation.

Viv was a pioneer, known for her leadership and progressive vision. She was the first woman to wear trousers to a TBS interview, setting a precedent for change in a company that, at the time, was steeped in tradition. She believed that success was built on investing in people and doing the right thing—values that continue to drive TBS Engineering today.

Her career at TBS spanned five changes of ownership, and she was pivotal in helping the company navigate each new chapter. She played a key role in establishing TBS’s apprenticeship programs, now in its 11^th year ensuring that future generations of engineers had the skills and support they needed to succeed. Viv was passionate about mentorship, innovation, and employee well-being, shaping the way TBS operates to this day.

To honour her impact, TBS established the Vivienne Empson Award, which is presented annually to employees who demonstrate the same dedication, teamwork, and enthusiasm that Viv brought to the company every day.

This year, we take her legacy one step further, walking in her memory and raising funds for a cause that was close to her heart.

Walking Through History – Retracing TBS’s Journey

The 22-mile route represents a 56-year journey through time, reflecting the growth of TBS Engineering:

• From a small workshop in Cheltenham to a state-of-the-art HQ in Brockworth.
• From a UK-based operation to a global business serving 90+ countries.
• From a local engineering firm to an industry leader in battery automation.

This walk is a celebration of where we started, where we are, and where we’re going. More importantly, it’s an opportunity to raise awareness and funds for a cause that impacts millions of people and their families every year.

Our employees are excited to take part in this group challenge and are encouraged to set their own personal goals to help raise funds toward our target. Jon Curtis, TBS Finance Director, has already kicked off his fundraising efforts and begun training for the Brighton Marathon in April. In addition to the marathon, he will also be participating in the Battery Walk.

Join Us in Making a Difference

• Donate – Every contribution brings us closer to a future without breast cancer CLICK >>DONATE HERE
• Sponsor – Businesses can support the cause through branding opportunities on T-shirts, PR materials, and social media.
• Spread the Word – Share our journey and help us reach our £20,000 goal.

Breast Cancer Now: The Research and Support Charity

At Breast Cancer Now, world-class research drives life-changing care. The charity provides vital support for anyone affected by breast cancer—from diagnosis through treatment and beyond—offering help today and hope for the future.

By 2050, Breast Cancer Now believes that everyone diagnosed with breast cancer will live—and be supported to live well. But achieving this goal requires action today.

That’s why TBS Engineering is proud to support their mission through the TBS Charity Battery Walk 2025, raising funds to drive progress, fund research, and provide life-saving support for those who need it most.

For media enquiries, sponsorship opportunities, or to get involved, please contact:
[email protected]

TBS proudly announces a progressive step forward in lead acid energy storage technology with the unveiling of its new electrode manufacturing line, TBS ActivMat, part of the TBS Advance Energy Equipment Alliance. This alliance, comprising of TBS Engineering, Ltd, H&T Produktions Technologie, GmbH, and Pinco SA, is dedicated to optimising plate manufacturing process control through enhanced parameter management leading to better performing, higher quality, more efficient and sustainable plates.

Alliance Overview:

The partnership between TBS, H&T, and Pinco is driven by a shared commitment to exceed industry demands for continuous, disruptive, and lower-cost solutions that lead to higher energy density in lead acid energy storage. This multi-year collaboration through its expanded and synchronised portfolio of leading-edge equipment has focused on addressing one of the most significant challenges in the lead acid manufacturing industry: optimising for linear process dependency to produce energy storage products with superior energy density, improved cycle life, better quality, greater efficiency, and enhanced sustainability.

“Innovation thrives through collaboration. By partnering in an alliance with Pinco and H&T, we unlock new potentials and drive forward together, turning visionary ideas into groundbreaking realities”. Shep Gerrish, Vice President of TBS Engineering Ltd Electrodes and Formation.

Innovative Approach:

The alliance’s “building block” strategy targets the core components of energy storage: active material electrode sets, and the technologies used to create them. Recognising that traditional methods and supply chain processes constrain the full potential of lead acid chemistry, the alliance has embarked on a path of simplification, integration, optimisation, and scalability. This collaborative effort is paving the way for groundbreaking technological advancements and long-term performance improvements in energy storage.

Unmatched Expertise:

The strength of the TBS Advanced Energy Equipment Alliance lies in its combined technical and manufacturing expertise, honed over years in the lead acid industry and other challenging markets. By merging lead acid chemistry and manufacturing know-how with innovative breakthroughs from other sectors, the alliance has developed cutting-edge equipment, processes, and technologies ready to revolutionise lead acid energy storage.

Global Reach:

The alliance’s impact is amplified by its expanding global footprint in sales, service, and aftermarket support, with operations across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. This extensive reach ensures that customers worldwide can benefit from the alliance’s innovative solutions and unparalleled support.

Strategic Support:

A key pillar of the alliance’s success is access to capital and strategic management from TBS’s parent company, Marmon Industries, a Berkshire Hathaway-owned entity. This backing provides the financial strength and strategic oversight necessary to drive innovation and growth.

 

Launching TBS ActivMat:

Setting the Standard for Excellence in High-Performance Active Material.

With the introduction of TBS ActivMat, alongside TBS’s offerings in Strip Casting and Rotary Expander line, TBS, in collaboration with its alliance partners, is set to deliver comprehensive solutions to the market. The complete TBS ActivMat range will include a Servo Spindle Press, Continuous Paste Mixer, Continuous Paster, Flash Dryer, and Curing Chambers, establishing a new standard in plate manufacturing.

“Exciting times ahead for TBS and our partners! Our new technologies in platemaking, paired with our market-leading assembly equipment, reinforce our commitment to the lead-acid battery industry. We’re empowering customers to cut costs with advanced automation and sustainable solutions.” Richard Taylor Group MD of TBS Engineering Ltd

TBS Commitment:

TBS continuously innovates and evolves from building long-lasting relationships with customers and listening to what they need from their global partner. TBS Engineering designs, develops, and manufactures cutting-edge battery manufacturing equipment, parts, and services that maximise throughput, process control, quality, sustainability and safety, while minimsing downtime, labour, and waste.

This results in increased sales, profitability, and return on investment for customers.

We offer the best equipment, technology, and aftermarket services, providing a full 360 customer experience like no other. With this, TBS Engineering will become the ‘Advanced Energy Solutions’ provider of the future in lead acid manufacturing.

For further information email: [email protected]