From "dirty work" to Fantastic Beasts and the Hadron Collider - Waterlooville metal spinning company's reputation rises

Calibre Metal Spinning Ltd was started by Denmead brothers, Kevin and David Hobbs, in 2010 and after years of hard work their reputation has grown. So much so that they have contributed parts to the world’s largest particle accelerator which is used to help scientists understand the origins of the universe.

The company’s involvement in projects such as this shows how far it has come since it started. Kevin said: “We are really proud. It has been 15 years of blood, sweat and tears. Starting off with the dirty, lesser quality work, and then becoming ISO 9001 accredited and getting recognition from that.

“Then we had repeat customers who trust our quality and service, and now to be involved in something like this.”

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Calibre produced reducers which will be added to the collider as part of the second phase of the updates which will complete in 2026. The company were initially approached by the University of Southampton who are also involved in the project.

Kevin said: “We were contacted by Southampton University about the project and they wanted come and visit us and see if we could help them. They needed a reducer for an update on the large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.

“The parts themselves may not be that impressive compared to some of the things we have made but it is quite a significant project for our company to be involved in.”

The company makes a number of different items. To explain what they do in layman's terms , Kevin said it is similar to what a potter does with clay, except they do it sheet metal.

It is not the first significant project the company has been involved with having previously provided metal cauldrons for use as props in the Fantastic Beasts franchise movies.

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Before starting the business, Kevin and David worked off and on together for 10 years before taking the opportunity to start their own business. It has not all been plain sailing.

Kevin said: “An opportunity came up in 2010 to start our own business up and we took. It was a gamble as that was the height of the credit crunch so it was a difficult time.”

One thing that Kevin has credited with the companies progress is the great staff that they have to rely on. Two of which, Sam Santos and Brandon Murphy, were both integral in the production of the part for The Large Hadron Collider.

From years of “dirty work” to producing props for major movies and parts for cutting edge scientific projects, Calibre Metal Spinning’s reputation is on the rise.