Partner Article

Astrum sets sights on the upturn

Military engineering firm Astrum is targeting new opportunities in Europe, Asia and the Middle East after recording a 10% rise in turnover to £38m and a surge in exports.

The County Durham business, which employs 250 people at its Stanhope headquarters, is also embarking on a recruitment drive as it prepares for the economic upturn.

New figures have revealed that, despite the tough times across the globe for engineers and manufacturers, the company’s annual revenue jumped 9.8% to £38.5m while exports jumped by 5% to 21.7% of overall incomings.

However, the year ending April 2009 also saw operating profit dip by £1m to £3.7m, while the group incurred a loss on ordinary activities before tax of £3.4m.

The company, which last month won a £60m deal with the MoD to supply track systems for military vehicles, is now gearing up for the recovery by growing its team and tapping into new markets.

Managing director Phil Kite told bdaily: “Astrum’s exports have grown to over 20% of turnover and the Company sees further expansion in overseas sales as the main growth opportunity for FY11, targeting Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

“Marketing a range of defence products that provide greater durability and improved value for money, the company is targeting a larger share of what is a substantial global market.

“We are planning for growth and are currently recruiting in sales, product development and engineering. The focus is on building capability in the business that will be able to take advantage of opportunities already identified and those that will occur during the upturn.”

As well as military engineering, the company also works in a range of other sectors including earth-moving and has clients in over 30 countries.

Mr Kite believes Astrum’s future growth could be accelerated by a building its presence in non-military fields.

He said: “While the defence sector in which Astrum operates is not experiencing significant growth, our strategy and drive for success has identified opportunities from which the company can secure a larger share of the global market.

“In the commercial sector there are signs of an improvement in demand for cast steel products mainly from overseas, particularly in the earth moving and construction sectors.

“It’s difficult to be sure if this is the start of the recovery or a bounce back from de-stocking and rationalisation of our customer’s supply chains.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .