Company History

Established in 1947 as ‘Borough Polishing & Plating’, the company was originally involved in the more traditional metal finishing disciplines, offering Gold, Nickel, Cadmium, Silver, & Zinc plating.

In the early 1960’s David Coombes joined his father’s company and began to pioneer the process of metal plating on plastics. The first notable success was the use of this new process to chrome plate the plastic door fronts on washing machines. In the late 60’s the automotive industry turned to plating on plastic to deliver the repetitive quality of finish at the price it wanted, that traditional metal techniques could not match.  Austin and MG were the first companies to approach Borough for chromed interior components and then in 1974 the first exterior parts were supplied for the XJS, having passed the stringent quality requirements of Jaguar. Ford started using plated plastics for trim parts on the beloved Cortina, an icon of the 1970’s.

Due to their success, in 1974 Borough was acquired by the Norman Hay Group, who was then the largest metal finisher in the UK. It was then that Jaguar parts such as for the XJ40 project came to prominence. Borough became a 1st Tier supplier of all exterior chrome plated plastic for Jaguar in this period. It was during this stage of development in 1985 that Borough created an injection moulding workshop to cater for the ‘Mould & Plate’ demand from major automotive accounts. Borough set up its painting facility for Jaguar components in 1986.

Through the late 70’s and 80’s, the fashion for chrome had seen something of a slow down, but the board could see the potential for future growth and future success as fashions change. In 1990, a management buy out by the current board created a new independent company, Borough Ltd.

There was an immediate need to invest for the future and this started with a search for new premises. The decision to relocate was fuelled by an increased demand for chrome plated plastic in the automotive industry, as predicted by the board, fashion had changed and chrome was once again desirable.

In 1997 Borough purchased the current site in Progress Road, which offered the room for expansion of their moulding operation. In 1999 a fully automated plating plant was commissioned, with a total investment of £2million and then began the phased withdrawal from the old North Road site.

The relocation proved successful and the business has gone from strength to strength. Borough currently employs more than 90 people; turning out some of the highest quality moulded and plated parts in the industry, a fact recognised by the biggest names in manufacturing