Cambium acquires global advanced composites manufacturer SHD Group to accelerate its materials innovation and production platform

Cambium, a pioneer in advanced materials for high-performance sectors, announced the acquisition of Sleaford, U.K.-based SHD Group, a global advanced composites manufacturer with production sites in the U.S., the U.K., and the EU, and a long-standing customer base across high-performance aerospace and industrial markets.

The acquisition creates a global advanced-materials leader, combining AI-driven materials innovation with scalable, qualified manufacturing to serve aerospace, defense, energy, high-performance automotive, motorsport, marine, and other advanced industrial markets.

SHD operates four sites: one at its U.K. headquarters, two in the U.S. (North Carolina and Oklahoma), and one in the EU (Slovenia). Together with Cambium's California base, the combined company will have a global innovation and manufacturing footprint capable of serving customers wherever they operate.

The combined company will be headquartered in El Segundo, California, with SHD operating as "SHD, a Cambium company," with its leadership, operations, and customer relationships remaining unchanged. Cambium Board Director Brett Schneider becomes President of SHD and Cambium Composites. SHD founders, Steve and Helen Doughty, continue as Director of Innovation and Director of Integration, respectively, to ensure continuity with the SHD team and their customers and suppliers through this next high growth phase.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Strategic Rationale

Together, Cambium and SHD create a platform capable of delivering new material solutions faster — from AI-driven molecular design to full scale manufacturing across the U.S., the U.K., and the EU. The partnership strengthens global supply chains while expanding high-performance solutions for aerospace, motorsport, automotive, energy, and industrial markets. Specific key factors behind the acquisition include:

- Global footprint: Qualified manufacturing across the U.S., the U.K., and the EU delivering custom materials up to 10× faster than competitors.

- Agile production system: Proprietary, low-waste lines that enable rapid changeovers and small-batch to mass production scalability, backed by 100+ global suppliers, minimizing supply-chain risk, and delivering composite solutions on short lead times.

- Proven customer base and culture: Hundreds of aerospace, motorsport, marine, and industrial customers; a shared focus on speed, service, and innovation.

- In-house engineering: SHD designs and builds proprietary machines and processes faster and more affordably than industry norms, enabling efficient expansion and upgrades for high-performance advanced composite materials.

- Sustainable development: SHD adds deep expertise in sustainable material development demanded by many aerospace and other industrial companies, using advanced resin systems and low-waste manufacturing processes that complement Cambium's mission to engineer high-performance materials with reduced environmental impact.

"Helen and Steve [Doughty] have built a truly amazing company, one that not only fits Cambium's vision for redefining what is possible with advanced materials, but one that will also be a great cultural fit," said Cambium Cofounder & CEO Simon Waddington. "They have built an extraordinarily fast response time production system that delivers orders 10X faster than the competition — even delivering product solutions within 48 hours. The Company also has a palpable ethos of quality and care, which Steve and Helen engineered on Day 1 and cultivated over the course of 16 years. For Cambium, all of this adds up to a tectonic impact on Day 1 for our team, partners, and customers."

Steve and Helen Doughty, founders of SHD, said "The acquisition of SHD Group by Cambium is the perfect partnership for us. The SHD culture and ethos that we have worked so hard to maintain and nurture is shared by both companies. The additional resource and investment along with considerable composites experience will secure the continued growth and expansion of SHD within the Cambium Group."

Combining the high-tech innovative materials being developed by Cambium, with the manufacturing, resin development and production know-how of SHD will enable a dynamic and progressive force to push the boundaries of the Composites Market. To our staff, customers and suppliers, thank you for your support over the years and we are truly excited for the next chapter together with Cambium."

Brett Schneider, President of SHD and Cambium Composites, added "I'm excited to see these two teams come together. The combination of Cambium's AI led advanced materials innovation targeting customer specific needs with SHD's culture, broad product base, proven global footprint, fast response pit-crew mindset, and proprietary assets truly enable something unique in advanced composites. The ability to develop differentiated solutions and then cost-effectively scale them rapidly in support of high growth programs and segments is truly unique in the composite's world. Cambium and SHD combining redefines the future of advanced materials development and production at scale and provides legacy and emerging customers a growth enabler that does not exist today."