Arford Steel Profiles owner plans to double the company’s size

A BLACK COUNTRY businesswoman plans to double the size of her company within three years on the back of a surge in demand for its products.

Kingswinford-based Arford Steel Profiles has seen strong levels of trade since bringing in plasma technology towards the end of last year.

Now owner Diane Kimberley is looking to build on that momentum with plans to increase turnover to record levels.

She is predicting growth of 20% in just 12 months and is hoping the trend will continue in the years ahead.

Turnover at the company, which employs 13 people, has increased to £2.5m since Ms Kimberley took control in 2006.

But she now wants to double that figure by 2017 with further major investment on the cards.

“Our figures have been strong since the third quarter of last year and we’re really optimistic about the future,” she said.

“We’ve spent a lot of money on new machinery and that has given us a perfect platform for sustained growth.

“We’ve come through a challenging economic climate and now we’re in a strong position to move forward.”

Arford invested £300,000 on high-tech plasma cutting equipment in October and has been reaping the benefits ever since.

“The new machine has had a huge impact on the business,” said Ms Kimberley.

“It increased our overall capacity by 35% at a stroke and immediately made us more responsive to customers.

“With our flame cutting machines alone, we were always up against it and couldn’t have improved production levels. But because plasma is four or five times quicker and a lot more accurate at the same time, we now have somewhere to go.

“The machine has been really busy and we’re now firming up our organisational systems to enable us to grow into that extra capacity.”

The success of the plasma machine has also prompted Ms Kimberley to re-evaluate her business plan.

“We’re looking to see the business grow by as much as 20% in the next financial year and anticipate we’ll need to invest in a second plasma machine within 24 months,” she added.

“In physical terms, that would give us the capacity to reach a turnover of £5m by 2017 and that’s a figure we’ve never reached before.

“We would need to sell that amount of business, of course, but we’re confident it can be done.”