LISBURN-based engineering firm ConveyorTek has secured more than £2 million in new contracts and has doubled its workforce to 24 in the wake of banking a loan from the Growth Loan Fund.
The company - which designs, manufactures and services conveyor systems for the logistics, recycling and material handling industries - used the loan to invest in new equipment and R&D to meet growing international demand. A second 6,000 sq ft production site was also established.
Philip Trimble, managing director at ConveyorTek, said: “Since receiving the loan in 2013 we've had tremendous success, growing at a rate of 40 per cent year on year.
“We have doubled our workforce and are investing in structural expansions. In February we expanded into a third factory based in Crumlin which now brings the current manufacturing facilities to over 35,000 sq ft.
"And as the company expands we have ambitious growth plans and it is hoped that with continued support we will build two new factories at our old site in Ballinderry."
He added: “We also have plans to create a service depot in England to support customers in the GB market later this year. Our fleet of installation vans have received an upgrade to support large scale conveyor belt installations in England, Scotland and Wales.
“Over the next three years we plan to create another 25 new jobs, once again doubling our workforce. We are also in the process of setting up an international distribution network as well as having a strong focus on improving our digital marketing presence."
Finance for the £50m Growth Loan Fund – which provides loans to established SMEs in the north seeking to access growth finance – has been provided by Invest NI and private investor the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee (NILGOSC).
Mr Trimble continued: “The Growth Loan Fund helped us kick-start this extraordinary period of growth and we would highly recommend it to other SMEs who are looking an alternative means of finance.”
Neil McCabe, senior investment manager at WhiteRock Capital Partners said: “ConveyorTek is one of our many success stories. It has a strong emphasis on innovation to compete against similar companies in the sector, and they combine this with a strong vision for the strategic direction of the company over the next few years."
WhiteRock Capital Partners, which is authorised and regulated by the FCA, was established in 2012 to manage the fund by the consortium of three partners – Braveheart Investment Group, NEL Fund Managers and Clarendon Fund Managers.
