Revenues are stacking up for Armo
A loading bay equipment company is set to deliver a jump in turnover of its repair operation as warehouse companies look to save money.
Distribution companies that rode out the recession by controlling costs are now increasingly interested in extending the lifespan of loading bay equipment rather than investing in new kit.
That's according to Armo UK, based in Queensway Business Park in Telford's Hadley Park West, which supplies dock handling equipment, including dock levellers, lifting tables, and industrial doors.
The company is expecting revenue in its service division to increase from £600,000 to £1 million this year, with overall revenue figure set to rise by 50 per cent to £3 million.
Managing director Darrell Hopwood said: "Financial management is key within logistics supply chains, and the cost-controls put in place during the economic downturn have stayed in place. Warehouse operators are trying to get the best value from the assets.
"We could see this trend quite clearly and have invested strongly in building up our national service and repair business. The result is a projected increase in turnover of more than 40 per cent in our loading bay equipment service and repair operation in 2015."
The business growth has also created five new jobs in Telford, including three new sales staff, a new engineer and a new apprentice engineer, with further expansion expected. It now employs 23 people.
Mr Hopwood said: "We have now created a new service and repairs division here in Telford, with eight dedicated engineers and two sales staff to support out growing customer base across the UK.
"Our engineers can work on any make or type of dock handling system, and can be called out 24 hours a day. Because we have national capacity, we can also offer our Telford and Shrewsbury customers no call out charge."
Shropshire-based firms that Armo UK already provide a dock-handling repair and maintenance service for include CML, Cedo, Faccenda, XPO Logistics, and Lyreco.
Mr Hopwood added: "At the moment, capacity is being squeezed, so distribution and logistics companies are under pressure to keep hard-pressed operations running at high levels of efficiency.
"This means keeping dock handling systems well maintained is a priority."
