A County Durham cable manufacturer is looking to double both its turnover and workforce in the next year with the help of a six-figure investment from the Finance For Business North East Growth Fund.
ATAG Cable Solutions designs, manufactures, tests and supplies a wide range of high quality, high performance reliable cables for all types of industries, with particular expertise in the electronics, oil and gas, marine and energy sectors.
Most of the Newton Aycliffe-based firm’s customers are based in the UK, but an increasing amount of work is being won overseas, with contract successes in Canada, Turkey and Germany leading the way.
ATAG currently turns over around £600,000 per year and has a staff of seven, but it is aiming to use the Growth Fund investment it has won from regional fund management firm NEL Fund Managers to double both these numbers over the coming 12 months.
The funding will be used to support ATAG’s recruitment of the skilled staff that it needs to drive its growth, as well as to invest in the production of new types of cable and help it work towards achieving IS9001 and IS14001 quality standards.
Led by managing director Andy Graham, ATAG Cable Solutions was set up in 2012 after its management team bought the equipment used by ATAG’s predecessor firm after its parent company went into administration.
All its cables are manufactured in the UK using quality materials and are available in a variety of colours, sizes and finishes to meet specific client requirements.
David Hazeldine, business development manager at ATAG, says: “Our success so far has been based on the quality and reliability of our products, which are manufactured to far higher standards, and after just over a year in business, we think we’re only starting to realise the company’s potential.
“There’s substantial demand for custom-made cables from both domestic and overseas markets, which is reflected in the month-on-month gains that we’re consistently recording, and we’re already recruiting to allow us to extend our operating hours and stay on top of what customers want.
“The new products we’ll be manufacturing will give us a stronger position in a number of key markets, while achieving the quality standards we’re working towards will enable us to tender for a wider range of bigger contracts with clients that demand these sorts of guarantees from their suppliers.
“The NEL team were easy to deal with, they gave us the right investment option for the stage of development that we’ve reached and we couldn’t have done what we’re doing without their support.”
David Thomas, investment executive at NEL Fund Managers, adds: “Manufacturing has traditionally been one of our core investment markets for many years, and ATAG’s commitment to quality and ambition to expand has earned it a well-deserved position in our investee portfolio alongside some of this sector’s best-known North East names.”
Aimed at regional businesses which are at a development and growth stage, the Growth Fund forms part of the wider Finance for Business North East Fund.
Managed by North East Finance, it will see £125m of investment capital injected into the region by the European Investment Bank and the European Regional Development Fund 2007-13 over a five year period.
NEL is looking to make around 130 investments over the five-year life span of the Growth Fund, and is actively looking to speak to ambitious north east companies with robust business plans.
For more information about NEL’s investment criteria, visit www.nel.co.uk or contact the investment team on 0845 111 1850.
The ERDF 2007-13 programme is bringing over £300m into North East England to support innovation, enterprise and business support. It will help create and safeguard 28,000 new jobs, start 3,000 new businesses and increase the region’s productivity by £1.1bn per annum.
