BRITISH Indian Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Engineering Group started construction of its £10 million global technology centre in Leamington Spa on Monday (25).

The state-of-the art 50,000 square feet centre will become the UK hub for Liberty’s research and development and engineering expertise when fully operational.

Located off Tachbrook Road, Leamington Spa, the new centre is expected to open in early 2020. It will house more than 100 highly-skilled technical professionals, including 40 new engineering posts that will be created by the investment.

The centre will also house Liberty’s vehicle technologies, 920Engineering (920E) and Shiftec businesses, known for their lightweight braking and control systems.

The company, which employs 5,000 in its UK industrial operations, is a Tier 1 supplier to several major automotive manufacturers domestically and overseas.

The new global technology centre is being built adjacent to the original plant as part of the third phase of the showpiece Spa Park being developed by Stoford Developments and Blackrock.

Executive chairman of the Liberty House Group and the GFG Alliance, Gupta said: “…this investment will put Liberty at the heart of automotive’s exciting evolution and deliver cutting edge innovations that builds on our status as a world-leading supplier in the sector.”

Anthony Blackwell, chief technology officer for Liberty Engineering, added: “This facility will help us to play a pivotal role in the next generation of vehicles, symbolically on a site that has had such a prominent and proud history in UK engineering…”

The flagship centre will support Liberty’s plans to grow its market share in the automotive and other sectors by providing solutions ranging from design and prototyping all the way to volume manufacturing.