News: Rotherham firms in International Track 100

Hydra Mining Tools and Sheffield Refractories, both based in Rotherham, have been named in the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 100 league table that ranks Britain's private companies with the fastest-growing international sales.

Now in its second year, International Track 100 is compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford company that researches Britain's top-performing private companies.

At number 67, this is the second year that Hydra Mining Tools has made the list thanks to exports that climbed to £8.7m in 2010, up 65% a year compared to 2008.

The company, and its predecessor, Hall & Pickles Tool Company, have been associated with mining activities since the earliest days of mechanisation. Following the collapse of the British coal industry, the company has refocused on supplying its specialist cutting tools to China.

Coal miners in China use Hydra Mining Tools International's cutting head to extract coal, without excessive dust and danger of explosion. The company now wins 26.5% of its sales from China, compared with 2% in 2008.

With 139 staff at headquarters in Kimberworth and a factory in Doncaster, the company had sales of £11.8m in 2010, £8.7m came from International sales boosted by its Chinese and American subsidiaries.

Sheffield Refractories entered the list at 75. They employ 51 staff and manufacture refractory material for clients in Europe and Asia. Refractories are temperature and chemical-resistant ceramics used to line kilns and furnaces. The Dinnington company sells its products to installers in the paper, steel, cement and power industries.

Directors Trevor Staton and Julian Gray bought the operation in 2006 and have expanded in mainland Europe, Russia and Southeast Asia. International sales have increased by 61% a year, from £855,000 in 2007 to £2.2m in 2009.

Hydra Minig Tools website
Sheffield Refractories website

Images: fasttrack.co.uk