A small company is rolling out a big punch across the world, developing parts for Formula 1 cars, space orbiters and now a brain scanner for children that could detect conditions such as epilepsy.
Magnetic Shields Ltd (MSL) is based in Staplehurst for more than 60 years and has produced specialty magnetic shielding – a material that shields or blocks magnetic fields – for electronic components.
He recently built a second factory and a multi-million pound head office, committing his future to the county.
Although the company has been around for more than half a decade, magnetic shields have not always been its main export.
About 20 years ago the company was more focused on creating TV stands for old school television sets before being bought out by entrepreneur Colin Woolger who discontinued that production.
His son and current MSL chief executive, David Woolger, said: “It was clearly a dying market.
“The company actually had a very difficult few years to turn around and focus on magnetic shielding again.
“Over the past 10 to 20 years, we have re-focused entirely on magnetic shielding and are working with truly large global companies.”
MSL specializes in creating custom magnetic shields and has developed new technologies for things like brain imaging, microchip manufacturing and electric cars.
Its products have been used in numerous medical applications, including the sequencing of Covid genomes, as well as in the Formula 1 industry for teams such as Red Bull and McLaren, and in aerospace and aeronautics.
A shield is used to prevent the earth’s magnetic field from interrupting or disturbing a product – think of it as similar to airplane mode on a phone.
For example, in Formula 1, MSL helped create a small part in the car that helps technology measure where the vehicle is on the track.
The part must be shielded to ensure that it does not interfere with other fields in the car, and vice versa, so that everything works as it should.
For an object to become “magnetically shielded”, it must be heat treated with hydrogen in a furnace at around 1100°C to ensure that the impurities in the metal are gone.
All MSL products are manufactured on site at Headcorn Road and are either welded or laser cut to suit material and shape.
This is an extremely niche market and skill, which is why many of the 80 employees were trained in-house, with skills passed on within the company.
MSL is currently working with Cerca Magnetics at the University of Nottingham to create an advanced brain imaging scanner that can be used on young children, something that has never been done before.
It’s been built like a helmet so it can sit easily and securely on youngsters’ heads from the age of one or two, while allowing them to move and wiggle like the children do.
Although not yet medically approved, this could mean that conditions such as epilepsy could be identified by monitoring activity in the brain.
Research is underway in hospitals and in the United States to see its effectiveness. It has also been suggested that it could be used to diagnose autism and Parkinson’s disease.
MSL also produces parts for a solar orbiter that flies toward the sun and helps create machines that make microchips.
As the company continues to grow and work on new projects, it has built a second factory to double its manufacturing capacity.
The 17,222 square foot space comes after a £3 million investment and has been designed to be net zero using solar panels, air-source heat pumps and rainwater harvesting, as well as other ecological measures, in particular with their ovens.
It was built by local businesses to support employment in the area, which David says is essential for him.
He said: “Building the Kent ecosystem is important in terms of being able to support the business. We are also very keen to invest in apprentices.
“We can’t recruit people with the right skills, so what we’re trying to do is find young people that we can develop and train internally and then watch grow.
“It’s really gratifying to see someone who joined school as an apprentice at 16 and suddenly became a shop supervisor 10-15 years later. It really is quite an achievement. “
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