When Robert Ford established Ford & Co. in 1910, the then 29-year-old was making corrugated steam joints with a team of just three people, from a premises in South Shields.
By the 1940s, the company was suppling thousands of parts for the Allied war effort – and making a vital contribution to the military.
The world has changed a lot since the firm’s early days.
And there’s been a name change too.
But in 2025, Ford Aerospace is still based in South Tyneside… and it is still providing skilled jobs for local people.
Robert’s legacy lives on in a multi-award winning company with a world-wide presence. A company that’s proud of its UK manufacturing heritage, is developing a new generation of engineers through its own academy, and is renowned for high class precision engineering in sectors including aerospace, automotive, marine and defence.
Now part of the SPIROL Group – a family-run global enterprise with locations on four continents, which it joined in 2023 – Ford Aerospace is continuing to deliver for the automotive sector, building on decades of experience in supporting car and off-highway vehicle manufacturers.
Rapid turnaround, low to high volume capacity and the ability to compete in a highly price sensitive market all form part of the company’s offering.
This is backed by a wide range of state-of-the-art production technologies at the company’s site at Tyne Dock. Pressing, forming, stamping, laser cutting, thread rolling, CNC turning, CNC milling, precision machining, grinding capabilities and more… they are all undertaken in an ISO 9001:2015 accredited environment.
From that facility – and a passionate, skilled workforce – comes a wide range of critical parts.
From manufacturing joint washers for a renowned luxury car manufacturer, to producing joint interface nozzles for a fuel injection specialist and head stocks for one of the world’s most prestigious motorcycle brands, Ford Aerospace has played a major role in sector innovation and evolution.
It manufactures components for use in motors and pumps, hydraulic controls, transmissions, steering columns and gear boxes, and its machining capabilities enable it to produce precision milled and turned bushes, pins, brackets, barrels, dampers, housings, gaskets, seals, core plugs and bolts, as well as complex prismatic components.
Since the late 1960s, when it developed a unique, cost-effective method of producing thin gauge shims of ≤0.25mm with no burrs, shims have also been one of the company’s key specialities. This innovation has been an industry game-changer – and its precision shims are employed across the globe.
Ford Aerospace also specialises in the manufacture of adjustable / peelable laminated materials, from which laminated shims can be manufactured.
In addition, the company has the capabilities to process most grades of mild steel, copper, aluminium, stainless steel, brass, titanium, phosphor bronze, aluminium bronze, Monel, Inconel, Incolloy, Hastelloy and other special materials: in a fast-moving sector, that is always looking to increase efficiency and user safety, this ability is in high demand.
Drawing on 115 years of manufacturing expertise in North East England – and now strengthened by the SPIROL Group’s global reach – Ford Aerospace is here to serve the automotive sector with exceptional levels of service, performance and quality. And its commitment to the region’s industrial community remains as strong as it did back in 1910.
You can meet the Ford Aerospace team at the North East Automotive Expo.
Ford Aerospace is exhibiting at the North East Automotive Expo at the Beacon Of Light, Sunderland on September 25. You’ll find the team on Stand A26 – and you can meet them to talk about your projects, challenges and manufacturing needs.
For more information on Ford Aerospace, visit https://www.ford-engineering.com/
