IN Brief:
- Wirral-based DT&G Engineering has received six-figure NPIF II debt funding.
- The money provides working capital for new chocolate coating machinery contracts.
- Orders include work linked to customers in Europe, the United States and Turkey.
DT&G Engineering has secured a six-figure debt investment to provide working capital for a growing order book of chocolate coating machinery. The Wirral manufacturer is using the backing from NPIF II – FW Capital Debt Finance to support delivery of a major new contract and further projects involving customers in Europe and overseas.
Rising sales of machinery under DT&G’s Finn brand have created orders linked to customers in Poland, Turkey and the United States, alongside other European projects. The new finance is directed at the manufacture and delivery of that equipment, with a major contract among the commitments requiring working capital.
DT&G manufactures Finn equipment at its Wirral factory, continuing an engineering business founded in a Birkenhead workshop in 1962. Its products coat and polish small confectionery centres, including nuts, raisins and biscuit pieces. These operations require repeated controlled application of coating materials as the centres circulate through the machine, a different process configuration from single-pass chocolate enrobing.
Its Finn belt coating and polishing equipment is used for products including nuts, raisins, biscuit pieces, malt balls, seeds and other confectionery centres. Chocolate is applied in stages while the material is moved and exposed to controlled process air. The equipment can also support polishing, glazing and the addition of finishing ingredients depending on the product being made.
Chocolate feed rate, material temperature, the movement of confectionery centres and cooling airflow all affect the formation of successive coating layers. Applying too much material before a layer has set can make individual centres stick together, while insufficient control of movement can create uneven coverage or damage delicate products. Repeatable operating sequences are therefore central to the machines’ coating and polishing functions.
Published DTG Finn specifications range from a 10-litre micro unit to a 680-litre jumbo machine, with 78-litre junior, 220-litre standard and other intermediate models. Batch size, cooling airflow and processing time vary by machine, so a confectionery manufacturer’s selection must reflect the centres being handled, the required throughput and available floor space.
A 220-litre standard model has a published maximum batch size of 157kg and an estimated cycle of 25–30 minutes. At the other end of the range, a 680-litre jumbo model is specified for 478kg and an estimated 45–50-minute batch. Those figures are based on a defined product application and will vary with the recipe, centre size and operating conditions.
The equipment combines its mechanical conveying and coating functions with control options for recipes and process monitoring. Configurations can operate manually, semi-automatically or fully automatically. Dashboard reporting and remote support are also offered, allowing production managers to review processing conditions while operators adjust the selected sequence.
Finn belt machines circulate centres through successive coating stages while air conditions help the applied chocolate set. The company also offers belt polishers that can run alongside coaters, with options for glaze and sealant dispensing. In a factory, coordinated coating and polishing equipment helps control surface finish and transfer between processes; achievable throughput depends on the chosen machine, recipe and product.
Production of this type of machinery can require spending on components, fabrication, control systems and assembly before final equipment delivery and payment. An increase in accepted orders can therefore create an immediate working capital requirement even when the manufacturer’s long-term sales outlook is improving. The new finance is intended to support that order fulfilment cycle.
Managing director Lyn Pitt says the finance will help the business fulfil contracts and support local employment. DT&G continues to manufacture on the Wirral and has an apprenticeship programme. The company has not specified a numerical recruitment target linked to this investment, but the increase in orders places additional demand on assembly and commissioning resources.
FW Capital manages the new debt investment within the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II. It is the lender’s fourth investment in DT&G, following backing in 2015, 2018 and 2024. The current funding extends an established financing relationship as the company works through a larger international equipment order book.
DT&G has used Intralox ThermoDrive belting within its machinery portfolio since 2015 and offers control systems from Mitsubishi, Rockwell Automation and Siemens. Those established engineering options contribute to the configurations that customers can specify. The latest funding is intended to support production and contract delivery rather than to finance a newly disclosed machine launch.
The order book places expenditure on stainless steel fabrication, control components, assembly labour and testing ahead of completion and customer delivery. Working capital is needed during that period because machinery projects can absorb cash before the final equipment is accepted and paid for.
The six-figure loan supports work already under way on coating and polishing equipment for overseas customers. DT&G’s ability to fulfil the new orders will depend on component availability, production scheduling and final commissioning, with manufacturing remaining at the company’s Wirral site.
