£1m investment marks 15-year milestone for Shropshire manufacturer

Precision components maker Advanced Chemical Etching has completed a major expansion plan to more than double the size of its Telford factory to more than 20,000 sq ft.

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Established in 2000 by Alan Rollason and Chris Ball, the company is expecting that the additional installation of two new large etching machine lines – plus advanced measuring equipment – will help it build on an influx of new orders for parts used in aerospace, automotive, electronics, Formula 1,

medical, heat exchanger and fuel cell technology.

"This expansion plan has been a long time coming and has taken a massive effort from all of our 35-strong workforce to make it a reality," said Mr Rollason, who is now chairman of the Hortonwood-based business.

"We now have an excellent platform and the right capacity to go after new work and there is plenty of that around as companies are increasingly looking for that complex component or alternative use of materials.

"We're at over £3 million turnover now and I see no reason why we can't achieve £5 million in the next couple of years. The pipeline certainly suggests it is possible."

He added: "15 years has flown by and it's great to see how we've progressed from a small business employing just three of us to one of the sector's leading providers of photo-etched components.

"Despite our growth, we still operate to the same principles we did when we spotted the niche in the marketplac– fast turnaround, customer service, quality and always looking at the next innovation."

ACE, which is a member of the Midlands Assembly Network, has recently developed two new processes using unique etching chemistry.

Aluminium compliant molecular etching and titanium molecular etching are the result of years of research and development, which culminated in the company embarking on a knowledge transfer partnership with the University of Wolverhampton.

It was able to tap into the expertise of a PhD qualified chemical engineer to come up with two chemical solution developments that offer exacting tolerances and repeatable quality – attributes that are sought after by the automotive and aerospace sectors using titanium and aluminium.

ACE managing director Ian Whateley added: "In addition to the new machine lines, we are now planning to invest significantly in expanding our specialist laboratory so we can continue to push the boundaries of etching technology.

"We see this as a major opportunity and gives us a fantastic competitive advantage over our rivals, especially those from low-cost countries. The KTP went so well that Dr Eesa has been employed as the head of our R&D team."

ACE's management team also points to its involvement in MAN as a key driver in its recent success, citing the collective's ability to deliver every manufacturing discipline imaginable as fundamental in winning new contracts.

The firm, which is joined by Alucast, Barkley Plastics, Brandauer, Grove Design, Mec Com, Muller Holdings, PP Electrical Systems and SMT Developments in the group, believes it has won more than £2m of work since it became a member in 2009.