Leading engineering design and manufacturing business, B3 Technologies, has been the subject of a buyout that has united some F1’s most successful designers and engineers.
Set up by John Barnard, himself a respected F1 designer, as a “skunkworks” operation for Ferrari, B3 Technologies is now owned by a consortium under the leadership of new CEO John Minett, the company’s former Commercial Director.
At the launch, Mr. Minett said: “Born out of the F1 industry, B3 Technologies has a long tradition of supplying high quality design and manufacturing services to F1 and other industries. It is a superb foundation on which to build, with our fantastic new team. We will be looking to strengthen our role as a leading supplier in motorsport, as well as increasing our market share in aerospace, medical equipment and other high tech industries.”
Joining Mr. Minett on the board are Steve Nichols, Technical Director and Matthew Jeffreys, Operations Director, both highly respected F1 innovators. John Allen is the company’s CFO, a keen amateur competitor in motorsport and a respected businessman having started and floated several companies in the IT industry.
Steve Nichols was formerly Chief Designer at the McLaren F1 team and responsible for the 1988 McLaren MP4/4, which became the most successful Grand Prix car of all time by winning fifteen out of sixteen Formula 1 Grands Prix that year, in the hands of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. Steve’s career has included senior roles at McLaren, Ferrari, Jordan, Sauber and Jaguar, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to the B3 team. Born in the USA, Steve became part of the design team at Ron Dennis’ Project 4 where his experience in the US defence industry played a major part in turning John Barnard’s desire to produce the first carbon fibre monocoque in F1 in to reality. This car eventually became the McLaren MP4/1 following Project 4’s merger with McLaren in 1980.
Matthew Jeffreys also played a pivotal role in McLaren’s success in F1 over more than two decades, as Project Leader for Chassis Design and more recently as Senior Project Engineer. In this role he was tasked with radically improving the efficiency of McLaren’s engineering business processes. His improvements led to a 22% increase in productivity in less than 9 months.
The directors are supported by a growing team of engineers and designers, including David Cox, who emerged as the brains behind the Brabham BT46B ‘fan car’ which stunned the F1 world by winning on its debut at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix. Cox has wide experience outside the world of motorsport with projects such as the Thames Barrier where he was in charge of the mechanical design section and Eurofighter.
The new management team has inherited a group of individuals with a superb range of skills who have collectively been responsible for many innovations in the applications for advanced materials. Already recruitment has taken place to expand the workforce and investment has been made in new technology. The company is confident of a bright feature.
For more information, please visit www.b3technologies.com
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