Magnet manufacturer ploughs investment into business

A YORKSHIRE magnet manufacturer and supplier has ploughed more than £250,000 of investment into the business after seeing turnover rise.
 
Sheffield-based Anchor Magnets, which provides magnetic material used in the printing and design and retail, automotive, engineering, food processing and consumer markets, has expanded its machining capacity and instated a new integrated management system.
 
After turnover for the first half of 2014 reaching £3.1m, the company has tripled its conversion and cutting capacity for sheet magnetic material and has plans for further expansion to machining capabilities for its extrusion plant.
 
Warren Turner, managing director at Anchor Magnets, said: “We have seen healthy growth across the business and this has created a need for targeted capital investment.
 
“Crucially, we needed to be better placed to react to customer needs and increased demands and to create greater capacity so that we can plan for, and manage, further growth.
 
“In less than 12 months, we have tripled our capacity for conversion and cutting of magnetic sheet and we have significantly increased our laminating facilities.”
 
Anchor’s clients include Bentley, Audi and Aston Martin and the company, which  is on target for a record turnover in excess of £6m, is also a supplier of magnetic point of sale materials used by Vodaphone, O2, Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Morrisons and other high street retailers.
 
Turner added: “Since Anchor Magnets was formed, back in 1984, we have consistently grown and adapted to meet a highly diverse range of customer requirements and this pace of change has forced the need to streamline our entire sales, manufacturing, purchasing and finance systems through an integrated ERP system, which was a £150,000 investment on its own.
 
“And the investment will continue with approximately £25,000 earmarked for new machinery in our extrusion department and we are currently looking at ways to reconfigure some of our manufacturing facilities and to free up much needed inventory space.”
 
Anchor Magnets currently has operations across 28,000 sq ft of space in Darnall, the eastern side of Sheffield, and supplies to businesses across the UK. It also exports to more than 26 countries.