For nearly half a century Barnbrook Systems has been trading in the engineering products space. Starting out as a distributor of engineering products, over time it has evolved and transitioned into an engineering and manufacturing firm in its own right, offering a specialised range of core products.
“We now offer those core products as well as subsystems and system solutions across a wide range of market sectors,” says Andrew Barnett, Managing Director of Barnbrook Systems.
Barnbrook Systems’ products and solutions have been deployed in the aerospace, defence, rail, and maritime sectors, as well as fire and security.
“We are broad in our coverage, and we are forward-thinking in our approach, so that even though some of our products have been around for a while we have still got leading-edge intelligent technology to complement it,” explains Barnett.
On paper Barnbrook Systems is a nimble SME, but it is unusual for its size because of how highly accredited and certified it is. The firm has accreditations from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) and is an approved Engine Control Repair Station. It stands among the members of the Farnborough Aerospace Consortium, the longest-established aerospace and defence trade body in the UK, as well as the aerospace, defence, security, and space group Make UK Defence.
“It gives us the opportunity to work at a much higher level than most small businesses,” Barnett points out. “We combine that level of accreditation with a total understanding of the marketplace and unparalleled innovation and creativity.”
Under Pressure
To see that innovation in action, one need only look at the development that has gone into the pressure transducers that Barnbrook Systems designs and manufactures. The company is one of only a handful of businesses in the world that creates pressure transducers which are able to operate in ultra-high-pressure environments. But then Barnbrook Systems was approached to design and manufacture a product at the opposite extreme.
“We were approached by a helicopter manufacturer asking if we could do an ultra-low-pressure transducer,” Barnett says. “This was designed and qualified by us, and it is now flying. It enables a helicopter to refuel mid-flight, which is a first of its kind.”
Barnbrook Systems has now extended this product’s capabilities so that it can wirelessly communicate with helicopter subsystems, creating second-generation in-flight refuelling capability. It is a leading-edge technology that positions Barnbrook Systems as a Tier One supplier.
But getting that far meant completely rethinking the way its engineers developed the product.
“It meant asking the team to understand fluid and gas dynamics in a very different way,” says Barnett. “We have to monitor very minute pressure changes and act upon them, they have been used to dealing with ultra-high-pressure transducers for nuclear power stations and deep-sea exploration, and you can create that environment relatively easily. Ultra-low-pressure takes you into a different sphere of thinking.”
It is a sphere of thinking that requires an environment with no room for outside interference. Even a door opening can disturb the process.
“It’s different thinking, even though the transducer is still a transducer,” Barnett tells us. “So, we started to call upon outside the box thinking from our engineers, and that’s what we’re very good at.”
A Toolbox of Talent
Barnbrook Systems’ talent pool is not just about the talent and insight of its individual engineers, but about how they come together. The company’s engineers have a diverse age range, with its youngest engineer being 16 years old, and its oldest already 78.
“We are blending experience with youth and enthusiasm,” Barnett says.
Barnett is a STEM ambassador and spends time going out to schools and colleges evangelising for how exciting engineering can be.
“It is still seen as archaic, rather than as the cutting edge, lean sector it is today,” Barnett says. “I want to encourage people to show an interest in engineering, because without that interest you can’t hope to work with and nurture young people through a traineeship apprenticeship.”
Beyond apprenticeships, which Barnett is a passionate advocate for, Barnbrook Systems is also committed to working with the local community.
“We are locally focused, and we are very unusual in that we are right in the middle of a housing estate,” Barnett says. “That means the work environment feels different.”
As well as informing the kind of working environment Barnbrook can offer, it also has a huge influence on the company’s supply chain.
“Sustainability has been talked about for a while and it is almost a buzzword, but Barnbrook has long maintained a local supply chain, even when it wasn’t obviously favourable,” says Barnett. “We never did offshoring. We are a local company that benefits the local community. It gives us better control over the product lifecycle and means we are offering important support to the local community and economy, which is particularly important when times are challenging.”
Barnbrook also works closely with local universities, with the latest research forming a key component of the company’s development process.
“We are not afraid to dip into research as part of our design process,” Barnett says. “It is also an opportunity to work through our graduate programme, introducing them to the real world.”
A New Beginning
As Barnbrook Systems is rapidly approaching its 50th anniversary, the company also preparing for a new chapter in its story.
“It is a move to deepen our exposure. We are relaunching the business,” Barnett says. “We are introducing a new way of seeing Barnbrook as an engineering solutions provider that has these core products at its heart. It lets us offer our customers longevity so that we are in a position to support platforms for up to 20 years. The fact that we are innovative means we can open up new marketplaces in terms of renewables. Hydrogen projects are an exciting place for us, as are the agri-tech and maritime industries. We already do a lot of work in the military maritime sector, but there are even more opportunities in the commercial space.”
Within these sectors, Barnbrook Systems is positioned to proactively seek out new, innovative engineering solutions, but it also places importance on its ability to react to new challenges.
“There is a huge amount of change going on, a rate of change that I have never seen before,” Barnett says. “That is challenging in itself, but when there are factors completely outside of your control you have to be in a position to react. You cannot just do business as usual. You have to constantly refresh where the business is going and whether you are set up to succeed.”
