Member Article

Exports drive Express growth

With exports boosting the spectacular growth at Express Engineering the business has been listed as one of the UK’s private companies with the fastest growing international sales.

The Team Valley based precision engineering operation is placed 52nd in a national league table and fifth among the 22 firms from the North East and Yorkshire.

And the figures analysed - nearly £7 million of export revenue from the annual £30 million turnover in 2012/13 – have been bettered again in the last full financial year, reaching £8.5 million from a £37 million turnover.

Said Chief Express Engineering Group Chief Executive, Nigel Davison: “This is the third listing we have had for our growth over the past couple of years which shows just how successful our expansion drive has been.

“We are now equipped with the skills and capacity to take advantage of more confident markets and anticipate further significant expansion in the short to medium term.”

It was back in 2007 that Express embarked on an initial £10 million investment in new facilities, recruitment, equipment and acquisitions. This has included four new sites on Team Valley, the purchase of other engineering operations on Tyneside and at Stokesley in North Yorkshire and the establishment of Petrotec components in Brazil.

A capital injection from mid-market private equity investor LDC late in 2013 added impetus to the Express acceleration. The deal allowed the management team to capitalise on highly positive growth dynamics in the international oil and gas sector. LDC took a minority equity stake in the business as part of the transaction.

Express is now a globally recognised contract manufacturing company. From 300,000 sq. ft. of facilities a workforce of 500 supplies precision engineering services to the aerospace, defence, sub sea oil and gas exploration and production, power generation and medical equipment sectors.

The customer base includes FMC Technologies, Aker Solutions, GE (Vetco), Cameron, National Oilwell Varco, Rolls Royce and Messier Dowty.

The Sunday Times International Track 200 league table is sponsored by HSBC and compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford-based research and networking events company. Ian Stuart, Head of HSBC UK Commercial Banking, commented: “The table provides an insight into the important contribution privately-owned mid-market companies make to the UK economy.”

Earlier this year Express was placed eighth in the Profit Track 100 league table and has also been singled out as ‘one to watch’ in a league table of the country’s fastest growing firms.

With a 240% growth in turnover during 2012/13 it was the North East’s only representative on a 10 strong list of operations tipped to break into the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 – the UK’s top 100 private businesses demonstrating the most rapid expansion.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Dobbie .