PP Control & Automation

PP Control & Automation was established in 1967 in the West Midlands, originally operating as Power Panels Electrical Systems before taking its current name in 2017. The company is based at Landywood Green, Cheslyn Hay, near Walsall, and runs one of the largest independent control and automation facilities of its kind in Europe, spanning over 5,500 square meters with more than £2 million invested in automated cable preparation, automated testing equipment, an Electrostatic Discharge facility and an in-house training school for its 200-plus staff.

The business model is built around outsourcing: rather than machine builders and OEMs handling electrical control, electronics assembly, mechanical design, and cable harness work themselves, PP C&A takes on that production on their behalf, whether that’s a single module, a full assembly, or an entire machine build. Today it works with more than 20 of the world’s leading machinery manufacturers and holds ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification alongside cUL508a approval for electrical control solutions sold into North America.

Ownership changed in July 2018, when Canadian private equity firm Ardenton Capital took a stake in the business, a relationship that’s continued since. More recently, Pinaki Banerjee took over as Chief Executive Officer from Tony Hague, stepping into the role at what the company describes as an exciting stage of its development, with digital transformation accelerating demand for the kind of outsourced manufacturing PP C&A specialises in.

The company’s current ambitions are sizeable: PP Control & Automation is now targeting sales of £100 million, pursuing that growth through a deliberate strategy built around mergers and acquisitions alongside organic expansion in sales, marketing, operations, and digital transformation, with the stated goal of developing into a global strategic manufacturing outsourcing specialist, nearly six decades after it started out as Power Panels.