Following the temporary closures of UK car plants, he described how the business went from shipping 140,000 components a day to just over 60,000 and how the assets, valued at over £4million when he was brought in to lead the management buy out (hence the term ‘BIMBO’) were priced at just over £400K only a few months later.

Parker also described how the business emerged chastened from the eye of the perfect storm: “Few of us had ever experienced a recession that came on so swiftly, so suddenly and with so few signs of impact on another sector first.”

Lessons learned? First rule: stop burning cash! Critical skill sets were ring-fenced but Birkby’s had no choice other than to cut 250 jobs and it is only now beginning to build its workforce up again. Taking control of communications – with customers, employees and pensions trustees – was also critical, along with a set of audited accounts when bidding for new business both within the automotive industry and outside.

With the Honda Jazz now in production, a new press paid for with support from Yorkshire Forward and new business within the railway industry, the Liversedge company is now looking to a future beyond survival.