In the past 12 months, Remy has invested more than £20,000 in a complete overhaul of operations at Leicester – this is on top of the £40,000 originally invested when Remy bought the plant in 2001 – and this has been rewarded by a 15 per cent increase in productivity.

According to Michael Flensborg, sales and marketing director of Remy Automotive UK, the company has identified brake calipers as a major growth area for its UK operation. He continued: "Growth of remanufactured caliper sales is estimated at five per cent every year, with remanufactured calipers now accounting for 75 per cent of the market, compared with 40 per cent 10 years ago."

It is estimated that an average of 800,000 brake calipers are replaced every year in the UK and, with an average of 2.2 calipers per vehicle, more than 360,000 vehicles annually require caliper replacement. All Remy calipers are remanufactured under ISO9001:2000 standards, according to the company.