Enterprising Barnsley aids album company expansion

A Barnsley company which specialises in hand-made photo albums has moved to new premises with the help of a grant from the Business Growth Programme.

The grant was managed by Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, and was secured with help from Enterprising Barnsley.

Folio albums was launched three years ago and its popularity with professional photographers has put it on course to sell 4,000 albums by December, twice as many as the same period last year.

Directors Stewart and Julie Randall have increased their team from three to 11 since August 2012, in their new premises at Hoyland’s Shortwood Business Park, three times the square footage of their previous base.

Enterprising Barnsley coaches have also provided Folio Albums with support in financial management, business strategy and health and safety; and have been working with them to build links with photographers in Hong Kong.

The expansion is partly to facilitate international expansion, with customers as far afield as Australia, the United States, Qatar and Brazil.

Stewart said: “It feels amazing for us to be where we are. Through our own vision and hard work, together with the support we’ve had, we’ve achieved so much in a very short space of time. Over the last year we’ve grown turnover by 85 per cent.”

Stewart said: “We know our strengths and weaknesses and we can therefore identify areas where we need support through the programme. The expertise and assistance we’ve been able to access has been extremely helpful as we continue to grow.”

Enterprising Barnsley is supported financially by the European Union. The project has attracted £2,259,511 investment into Barnsley from the European Regional Development Fund as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development, through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme.