News: Nikken grows in Rotherham as the manufacturing sector continues to recover

Rotherham-based Nikken Kosakusho Europe Ltd is continuing to see a marked increase in the number of enquiries and subsequent orders.

The supplier of CNC rotary tables and tooling products saw a 67% increase in turnover in 2010 from the low of 2009 when some of their staff worked on a four-day basis to ensure no jobs were lost. Staff quickly returned to full-time working as orders increased in 2010 and so far in 2011, enquiries and orders are above the record levels experienced before the economic downturn.

Two new members of staff started last month at their Barbot Hall Industrial Estate premises with an extra warehouse operative to be appointed shortly. The new starters already in post are an customer support engineer the Service Department and the new group marketing manager who will head up all marketing and communications across Europe for Nikken's network of offices.

Nikken's growth comes at a time when UK manufacturing expanded at its fastest pace since records began in 1992 according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing (CIPS). The Markit/CIPS Purchasing Manager's Index reached 62.0 in January (where any measure above 50 indicates expansion). This was a rise of 4.5 in a single month from December 2010.

Tony Bowkett, group managing director at Nikken Kosakusho Europe, said: "Nikken is ideally placed to take full advantage of the growth in the UK's manufacturing sector.

"We have worked hard as an organisation over the last decade to ensure our products and services are of the highest quality. Our reputation as the leading producer of quality CNC Rotary Tables and NC Tooling products has played a huge part in our current success with customers in the aerospace, automotive, medical and nuclear industries."

Nikken Kosakusho Europe Ltd is a subsidiary of Japan's Nikken Kosakusho Works Ltd. The Rotherham facility supplies European offices in France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain & Turkey.

Nikken is a partner in the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing in Rotherham and is a member of the Machine Tool Association.

Nikken website

Images: nikken-world.com