the business was established in 1940, and following a management buyout by the current owners since 2003, this business is one of the uk’s leaders in product testing, product design and development. Capable of working across the full range of industrial and consumer products – metals, plastics, rubber, sealants and adhesives – excluding testing on animals and humans, this very high calibre organisation works very closely with its clients across all sectors to develop high performance products and systems to improve their turnover and profitability. It is particularly well known within the aerospace, construction, manufacturing, automotive and marine sectors. This business undertakes a full range of testing to meet all requirements – climatic, environmental and tack testing right through to salt spray or heavy rain. As well as its standard tests, this business is frequently involved in designing ‘novel’, bespoke testing methods to meet the specific requirements of a product and its use. Priding itself on its ability to think ‘outside the box’ in order to develop innovative and unique testing methods this business is often involved in building specific machines or rigs to simulate or accelerate usage either using the client’s facilities or those of its own. This business firmly believes in not only meeting client expectations but exceeding them. As a result, its quality of service is no less impressive. This business’s philosophy of ‘intelligent testing’ means that a customer doesn’t just receive a pass or fail certificate at the end of the process as some laboratories offer, but it feeds back at every stage of the testing process, ensuring that valuable development time and resources aren’t wasted. And it doesn’t stop there – with its excellent product design and development skills this business is in the best possible position to suggest appropriate remedies should a product fail. Not surprisingly this business can boast a whole array of loyal customers including some of the largest corporations in the world, particularly within the automotive and pipeline sectors. Committed to innovation, it is perhaps wthin the product design arena where this business stands apart from the competition. With a clear understanding of manufacturing processes and chinese manufacturers in particular coupled with an almost unparalleled ability to interpret european and overseas standards and regulations this business has all of the skills and capabilities to create new products and new materials, frequently assisting in the re-design of product lines to meet the necessary standards. This is a unique business specialising in the development and enhancement of industrial and consumer products. Seeking investment to take this business on to the next stage and capable of handling almost anything, this business has enormous potential. It should appeal to an existing testing facility looking to extend their presence in the sector, a major manufacturer looking to secure their own product testing, design and development resource or alternatively a private investor seeking involvement in the development of product ideas and early technologies. Key strengths: this business is based around a highly innovative and dedicated team of experienced and qualified technicians offering higher than average levels of service than are generally available within its sector. It has excellent, low cost facilities in a discreet location offering good accessibility for its clients but is equally at home using the facilities of clients who perhaps don’t have staff with the necessary capabilities. The business has access to all of the appropriate standards and from its experience of assisting in the drafting of them knows how to interpret them appropriately in order to devise the most effective tests. It also has an enviable network of resources and facilities. This business works very closely with its clients and is extremely reactive offering a highly tailored service to meet the specific requirements of each individual project. It understands materials and how they perform and is therefore able to devise appropriate tests often building specific custom-made test rigs and equipment to achieve the necessary test conditions. Working interactively with clients the business focusses on improving the products it tests rather than doing just the tests and issuing pass or fail certificates. Results are presented in a clear and easy to undertand but professional format rather than resorting to jargon found in some detailed reports which proves unhelpful to a customer. Using its undoubted product design and development skills clients benefit from the added value advice on how to develop and improve a product as a result of test findings. Not surprisingly, this business has a very well established, broad customer base providing high levels of repeat business. Once on board, clients return to this business time and time again. Key opportunities: there is an outstanding opportunity to build on the existing business levels and customer base of this company. With a strong demand for this business's services, a new owner contributing fresh ideas, enthusiasm and motivation will have every advantage of building on an excellent platform. This business has grown significantly within the limited resources available to the current owners, relying largely on repeat business, strong word of mouth recommendation and its company website. There can be no doubt that by increasing awareness of the skills and capabilities of this business particularly within the areas of product design and development – possibly through the deployment of a dedicated sales and marketing resource for example, would have a significant impact on turnover and profitability. Similarly becoming a notified body would enable the business to expand its testing activities and free up valuable internal resources to enable the business to extend its service beyond ‘compliance work’ and concentrate on even more lucrative product design and development projects undertaken on behalf of clients.
