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AEI eyes news markets

GROWING success in the UK defence sector has helped a Tyneside cable firm fight its way back into profitability while it is now chasing new opportunities in the fire detection and alarm installation markets.

AEI Cables, based in Birtley, South Tyneside, was boosted earlier this year with news of an £8m deal to supply cable and wiring to the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier Programme.

The deal, alongside growth in an increasingly diverse range of markets, has helped it recover from a £1.2m loss last year, to record a £200,000 pretax profit in the seven months to March 2010.

The company said it expected the construction sector to remain slow and highly competitive in the foreseeable future, although it envisages continual growth in the defence market.

Chief executive Jim Duffy said: “We have been able to maintain full employment throughout this period and we aim to continue to do so.

“However, for some sectors in particular, such as construction this is a difficult, vulnerable economic climate in which we are operating. We have compensated to some degree by the development of some specialised products into specific sectors such as defence and various industrial applications.

“Furthermore, as a responsible company we are a core member of the Approved Cables Initiative nationally which is taking action to combat the rise in the number of imported counterfeit cables, and we are also conducting our own supporting campaign to help rid the market of this perilous trade.”

AEI has been in operation for over 170 years and two years ago was acquired by Indian-based investors.

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