Advanced Composites Engineering's growth plans backed…

Advanced Composites Engineering's growth plans backed with second NEL investment

A North East engineering business has opened up a new revenue stream following a second investment from NEL Fund Managers.

Advanced Composites Engineering was launched at the start of 2021 by a team of engineers who had previously worked together, to manufacture composite tubing for businesses across sectors including defence, aerospace, sports equipment and marine.

The Cramlington company has now taken on responsibility for manufacturing and supplying a customer’s 50-piece industrial cleaning kit that is used by household names around the world. The contract gives Advanced complete control of the production process, allowing it to respond quickly to customer needs and manage the manufacturing process much more efficiently.

Two years ago, the team at Advanced worked with Newcastle based business investors NEL to secure an initial £95,000 investment the North East Small Loan Fund, helping it to reach bigger clients. Now it has gone back to NEL for a further £150,000, this time from the North East Growth Capital Fund Loan Fund, to support the delivery of its new service.

Two jobs have already been created as a result of the new contract, with more expected to follow this year. Plans are also in place to build the company’s presence in the US market.

After beating last year’s turnover target by 20%, Advanced Composites Engineering said it is now looking to increase it by a further 40% in 2023. Director Don Robinson said: “2022 was a challenging but successful year, and we’re now well set to build on what we’ve achieved so far.

“Being effectively given responsibility for our client’s reputation with their customers is a real vote of confidence in the quality of service we provide and the reliability with which we deliver on our promises. Taking on this new contract and bringing in other additional business gives us a greater degree of certainty on our business forecasting, but also means that we need to increase the stocks of raw materials that we hold in which we need to make further capital investment. We’ve had a positive relationship with the NEL team since their first investment went in, and it made sense to discuss the next stage of our development with them.”

Jane Siddle, senior investment executive at NEL Fund Managers, added: “The experience of its management team, a skilled growing workforce and their willingness to go above and beyond for their customers has put Advanced in a strong position to take big strides forward this year. Having a readily available supply of growth capital to help businesses evolve is an essential part of any healthy economy and we’re very pleased to be adding another company to our long list of repeat investees.”