New horizons for Numill
EXPANSION into new markets has been made possible for Sheffield-based tool firm Numill following a £100,000 cash injection.
The South Yorkshire Investment Fund (SYIF) loan will enable the firm, which reclaims, designs, and manufactures consumable cutting tools, to support sales operations across the UK and Europe including Scandinavia, France, Denmark, Spain, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
Numill has seen its workload treble in the past 18 months following a successful management buyout led by Anne Wilson.
The company has taken on several new employees and plans to make more appointments in the coming weeks.
Ms Wilson said:
“This support from SYIF is greatly appreciated and will enable the business to continue to grow to where we aim to be.
“We are now achieving three times as much work as we were in November 2006, which was a month after the management buyout.”
She added:
“This has been organic growth from our existing customer base and core business operations, rather than bringing new business in.”
Numill was founded in 1969 and has grown thanks to Sheffield’s expertise in the manufacturer of cutting tools. The company takes scrapped tools and re-grind, weld and machine before sending them back to the client good as new. It claims that businesses can save as much as 70% by opting for tool reclamation.
Ms Wilson said that the company offered a scale of service that only a handful of rivals worldwide could match.
Andy Chaffer, SYIF’s business director, said: “
Numill has just completed a very successful first year’s trading under Anne’s ownership.
“This additional funding from SYIF will enable the company to strengthen its position, not only in the UK, but further a field. It is also another example of Sheffield’s manufacturing expertise being utilised by many overseas businesses.”
SYIF provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2.5m, specifically to help small and medium businesses meet the gaps in funding they need for growth and development.
Numill was introduced to SYIF by Sheffield-based chartered accountants Knowles Warwick.
