Component manufacturer sees turnover surge over £10m

SOUTHPORT-based component manufacturer Lattimer has driven turnover to £10.6m after a focus on overseas markets has increased sales by 30%.

The precision engineering firm, which has a twin facility in New Jersey in the US, designs and manufactures components and assemblies for the glass container industry.

It has seen a 31% increase in UK sales and 34% increase in US sales, with exports accounting for 92% of turnover. Of this, 17% comes from European markets and Lattimer’s largest overseas markets include Australasia, the Middle East and Africa.

Chief executive Stephen Waterhouse said: “This rapid growth has been driven by combination of factors including opening up a new business stream with a major customer in northern Europe.

“In addition to this the Lattimer team has made a huge effort to drive brand profile overseas for a number of years and this work is now coming to fruition. We embarked on an ambitious export business development plan around three years ago involving consistent site visits to overseas territories and distributors.

“Another key decision was made to replace a 30-year working arrangement for the German and eastern European markets including Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Croatia and Austria with a specialist ‘in-house’ team benefiting from unique understanding and expertise in these areas.

“However, after many years exporting we understand it is a long-term process. To succeed you have to invest in site visits and building relationships in order to educate and inform customers of the benefits of our products and services.”

Despite initially starting out as a competitor, Lattimer is witnessing growing demand from OEMs due to the high performance quality of its products and fast manufacturing turnaround.

Lattimer UK managing director Mark Hailwood said the firm has seen a sharp rise in demand for small batch specialist parts required at short notice. It has delivered more than £500,000 worth of small volume orders, many of which are one or two specialist parts.

“Lattimer’s ability to deliver high-precision parts in low volumes at high speed is a key selling point to the market,” he said. “This form of engineering sees the development of hundreds of unique complex products over the course of a year.”

Lattimer was originally founded in 1937 as a general engineering company. In the last 12 months Lattimer has manufactured more than 3,000 different types of component parts for customers. The group employs 114 staff, 72 of which are based in the UK.