Yorkshire Laser aims for further growth

A Castleford-based sheet metal fabrication and laser company plans to increase production and create additional jobs following investment from Finance Yorkshire.

Yorkshire Laser & Fabrications supplies its products and services to a range of sectors including telecoms, automotive, engineering, power generation and medical.

A Business Loan from Finance Yorkshire has enabled the business to invest in a new welding fume extraction system for its fabrication facilities in Castleford.

A family run business, Yorkshire Laser & Fabrications currently employs 35 people and has an annual turnover £3m.

Matt Orford, the firm’s managing director, said: “We’ve had great support from Finance Yorkshire and this latest investment will make a big improvement to our fabrication department.

“We’re looking to grow our workforce by seven and want to increase our customers and grow sales and at the same time improve efficiency and profitability.”

Established in 1991 by Matt’s father, Yorkshire Laser & Fabrications has received a total investment of £170k from Finance Yorkshire over the last three years.

Matt added: “We were chronically short of space and the new unit had a dramatic impact on our production capability. We now plan to build another 10,000 sq ft unit to house our laser cutting equipment.”

Grahame Lunt, Finance Yorkshire investment manager, commented: “Strong management and leadership skills have seen Yorkshire Laser & Fabrication continue to grow and explore new markets. The new extraction equipment will create a cleaner working environment and enable improvements in productivity for this successful manufacturing business.”

To date Finance Yorkshire has invested £100m in SMEs in Yorkshire and the Humber. It has made 792 investments in businesses, increasing overall turnover by £360 million and creating and safeguarding over 11,000 jobs.