Sales surge to record at ambitious Cygnet Group

CHESHIRE engineering firm Cygnet Group has posted a record annual turnover of £23m, a 44% increase on the previous year.

Growth in global demand for its machines for the manufacture and processing of carbon fibre was a key factor in the increase in sales.

Pre-tax profits were £967,000 slightly down on £1m achieved in 2011, the result of interest payable on a loan for a new £6m headquarters building and research and development spending to drive future growth. Cygnet has set an ambitious turnover target of £50m by the end of 2017.

Managing director Matthew Kimpton-Smith said: “The last two years have been about laying the foundations to grow our business in our specialist markets across the world, where we are increasingly being identified as the go-to supplier, thanks to the strength of our products and expertise.

“We have been bold and grown quickly, but we have made sure that we can sustain our growth and provide long-term jobs, skills and lifestyles for our employees.

“To do that, we’ve focused on putting in place the right people, products, systems and infrastructure – the building blocks of our long-term success – and we are confident that we have set ourselves on the right course to harness exponential growth in these markets in the next decade.

“Our investment in recruitment, training, new product development and land for our new design, assembly and machinery testing facility can be seen on our bottom line, but will be essential to our growth in the next ten years.”

Addressing prospects for this year, he added: “2013 will be a year of consolidation, when we will focus on continued R&D of our product range, training our people, and embedding processes and procedures to enable us to grow strongly in the coming years.”

Family-owned, Northwich-based Cygnet, was founded in 1974 and provides advanced manufacturing solutions to some of the fastest-growing industries in the world, including aerospace, automotive and oil & gas. It exports 90% of its products to more than 30 countries.

Planning permission for Cygnet’s new HQ and manufacturing site was received last week. The group hoping to succeed with an application to the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, which would allow it to accelerate the project.