Chris Curtis MP joins Isembard’s Milton Keynes factory owners to talk skills and rebuilding UK manufacturing
Two young entrepreneurs who set up a precision manufacturing business in Milton Keynes in just over three weeks have welcomed local MP Chris Curtis to their new factory to discuss why the city is such a strong location for manufacturing.
Muhammad Altalib (29), a former venture capitalist, and Guglielmo Salvatore Pellegrino (28), a biomedical engineer, opened the factory in October as Isembard franchisees. Under Isembard’s franchise model, the pair own and run the site themselves, while Isembard provides the technology, training, brand, customers, and accreditation.
On a tour of the 2,100 sq ft factory at Caxton Court in Wymbush, the MP for Milton Keynes North was shown its two computer-controlled cutting machines, which make parts accurate to within a tenth of the thickness of a sheet of paper. The factory produces precision components for aerospace, defence, motorsports, and robotics customers.
Much of the conversation focused on why Milton Keynes is the ideal place for a manufacturing hub. Isembard chose the city for its position at the centre of one of Britain’s densest advanced engineering clusters, with London, Oxford, and Cambridge within reach. Milton Keynes is also one of the UK’s 10 most productive cities by output per hour worked, according to Centre for Cities, and its economy grew by 22.7% between 2013 and 2023, ahead of the 18.4% average across UK cities. The surrounding region is home to a concentration of aerospace, energy, propulsion, and robotics companies, as well as Motorsport Valley - which includes Milton Keynes’s own Red Bull Racing.
That cluster also gives local manufacturers access to a deep pool of highly skilled engineering talent. Motorsport engineers are used to making complex, high-tolerance parts against race-weekend deadlines - the same skills that defence and aerospace customers now need at greater scale. Cranfield University, one of Britain’s leading centres for aerospace engineering and home to its own airport, sits just outside the city. The franchisees talked about how Isembard can draw on that talent as the factory grows, having already made its first two full time hires as well as providing employment to three others.
The importance of rebuilding manufacturing in the UK was another theme of the visit. Manufacturing is the origin of the UK’s security and prosperity, but is set to shrink with many of Britain’s small machine shops being run by owners nearing retirement. It is Isembard’s mission to bring that production back onshore, and its franchise model is designed to bring a new generation of operators into the industry, giving people like Muhammad and Guglielmo factories of their own to train up the next generation of machinists.
Milton Keynes is one of 17 Isembard factories across the UK, Europe, and the US, and the company aims to reach 100 company-owned and franchisee factories across the UK by the end of 2028, creating 2,200 high-skilled jobs.
Chris Curtis, Member of Parliament for Milton Keynes North, said: ‘It was fantastic to meet Muhammad and Guglielmo and see what they have built in such a short time. Two young entrepreneurs have set up a precision manufacturing business here in a matter of weeks, and parts made in Milton Keynes are already helping keep our country secure and competitive.
Too many young people grow up thinking manufacturing happens somewhere else. Muhammad and Guglielmo are proof you can start an exciting manufacturing business right here, and create skilled, well-paid jobs for local people as it expands.
Milton Keynes has always been a city that builds the future, and I’m proud to see businesses like this setting up here. I wish them every success, and I’m looking forward to seeing them grow.
Muhammad Altalib, Isembard Milton Keynes, said: ‘We were delighted to welcome Chris to the factory. His support means a great deal to a young business like ours as we hire our first team and bring in more machines. Our goal is to make Milton Keynes the place where Britain’s aerospace, defence, motorsport and robotics companies get the components they rely on.’