Rob Frain, who heads the company with Stuart Hutchins, explained:

“We had outgrown our previous site so really had to make an important decision whether to stay at the size we are now, or actually provide ourselves with the necessary home that will allow us to grow in the future. It didn’t take us long to decide!

“Located on Hockley Industrial Estate – only a few minutes away from our existing site – the new facility is part of a £1.5m investment that will enable us to build our market share in the automotive, agricultural, defence, security and catering equipment sectors.”

He continued “Our customers are now benefitting from a state-of-the-art powder coating plant, the latest CAD CAM facilities and a new Amada laser punch combination machine, which is faster, more accurate and, being automated, allows us to manage a 24-hour operation.”

Accelerate has worked with R&S Laser for over five years, providing strategic and financial assistance towards helping it retain automotive business and also to diversify into new industries.

The latest support has seen it provide £28k worth of business development grants to help with the installation of new machinery, not to mention the implementation of the new plant layout.

Norman Taylor, one of the initiatives’s most experienced advisers, picked up the story:

“Rob and Stuart are a very forward looking management team and a fantastic example of how expert support can make a real difference to the business.

“When we first started working with them they realised that a lot of their current customer base was at threat and decided to innovate their processes, invest in the latest machinery and look at ways where they could work much earlier and closer with their client.”

He went on to add: “What is really pleasing is that the management team are not afraid to ask for help and often use myself and my colleagues as a sounding board for potential opportunities and business decisions. The factory move being a prime example.”

R&S Laser has more than doubled its workforce to 30 employees over the last three years and through its ability to laser cut, press brake and fabricate has seen its annual sales touch £2.2m in the latest financial year.

Its automotive business spans from supplying body panels and brackets as a 2^nd tier supplier into Aston Martin, Bentley and Land Rover to working as a 1^st tier supplier with Nanjing, where design is proving a very powerful advantage.

Other areas that are showing signs of real potential is the development of their own security device range, which is being led by its ‘Full Metal Jacket’ product for locking the pedals in cars and vans.

“This is a decent market, although there is still a lot of work to be done here,” explained Stuart.

“Where we are more advanced is in the catering equipment sector. Here we can use our CAD/CAM expertise to design, produce and assemble halogen ovens and three burner kebab machines.

“Combine all of these different interests and I can certainly see us getting to £2.5m by the end of 2008 and hopefully up to 100% factory capacity by this time next year.”

Accelerate, which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, assisted over 1500 companies last year in implementing lean manufacturing, boosting sales, launching new products and improving quality, cost and performance.

It also gave component manufacturers from across the West Midlands access to the latest technologies, including alternative fuels and telematics.

www.rs-laser-cutting.co.uk

www.accelerate.uk.net