News: Labfacility secures investment for growth

Rotherham-based, Labfacility, a leading manufacturer of temperature sensors for industry, has secured loans totaling £90,000 to support its growth following the recession.

Finance Yorkshire has given their support to the company with a £50,000 business loan, while Labfacility has also gained a £40,000 loan from Donbac, an Enterprise Agency and Loan Fund in Doncaster.

The investments will help Labfacility with capital investment in new tooling and to redevelop the company website with a new e-commerce facility.

The Dinnington company is one of the largest producer of temperature sensors for the aerospace and automotive industries, universities and research facilities, and exports 60 per cent of its products to more than 80 countries worldwide.

Major blue-chip clients include BAE, Eurotherm, GlaxoSmithKline, H J Heinz, Honeywell Control Systems, ICI, Jaguar Cars and Lucas Aerospace.

Last year Labfacility secured £100,000 of investment via Yorkshire Forward's Transition Loan Fund to complement a funding injection from the company's directors, which provided working capital for the company and enabled them to reduce their overdraft requirements.

Martin Riddett, managing director of Labfacility, said: "A year ago we centralised our operations to Dinnington to cope with the economic climate and the site is now our main production facility with 29 staff.

"This has helped us become more efficient and we are now starting to see an up-turn. We previously received investments from South Yorkshire Investment Fund (SYIF) and we were very pleased that Finance Yorkshire is now up and running and has started to make investments.

"It had been a tough year for the industry, but we'd enjoyed a very good track record with SYIF and needed further investment to take advantage of the growing market. Gap funder Finance Yorkshire came around at a time when we needed further investment to continue our growth and they have been very supportive."

Labfacility, which also has an office in Bognor Regis, is now looking to add to their workforce in Dinnington by recruiting quality manufacturing staff.

David Ward, from Finance Yorkshire: added: "We have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Labfacility, a company which is a leader in its field. This latest investment will ensure their facility in Dinnington continues to grow, attracting new work both in the UK and abroad, which will ultimately increase employment for the area."

Helping a range of small and medium sized businesses to meet their funding requirements for growth and development, Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m.

The project is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted £30million investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Labfacility website
Finance Yorkshire website

Images: Finance Yorkshire