Microdat gets ahead of the competition
AN ENGINEERING firm that specialises in manufacturing cask filling systems and brewing equipment is looking to double its turnover as the growth of real ale grows.
Leeds-based Microdat currently has a turnover of £3.6m but with the firm’s sights set firmly on the export market founder Steve Midgley is hoping to hit £8m in sales within the next few years.
Mr Midgley, a science graduate and former marine engineer, originally founded the firm in 2001 after working as chief engineer designate for Tetleys in Leeds.
Although he was advised to set up the business as a design house he followed his instincts and focused on engineering.
A former shareholder in brewery engineering firm Burton Industries, Mr Midgley bought out a section of the business and with 15 employees set about getting order.
Within a year Microdat has racked up more than £800,000 in sales including a key order for a cash washer from Harvey’s Sussex brewery.
Business built briskly and a £5,000 grant from Leeds City Council helped the firm acquire its first CNC lathe.
More than £1m has since been invested in new plant and nearly double that on research and development.
Continued expansion led to larger 20,000sq ft premises a stone’s throw from Leeds United’s Elland Road ground.
Customers include the Black Sheep brewery in Masham and Timothy Taylor.
“We’re number one in cask ale equipment and we’ve recently become agents for international keg specialists Lambrex,” said Mr Midgley.
“This means we can now apply our cask handling skills to the keg brewing market. The world’s biggest brewer InBev has asked us to look at a £2m project for its major Lancashire brewery.”
A major step in Microdat’s assault on the export market will be a substantial investment in an appearance at September’s Drinktek exhibition in Munich.
The hopeful star of the show will be Microdat’s new “green” cask-filling system, designed and developed entirely in-house and eliminating or minimising the need for CO2 in brewing – where the gas is later discharged into the atmosphere.
The system has been successfully trialled by Black Sheep and Moorhouses in Lancashire.
“Controlling beer flow during the filling process is a real challenge, but we believe we now have the answer for small and large brewers filling casks or kegs. We’re expecting a big result in Munich,” added Mr Midgley.
It’s not all about beer however. A recent order from previous metals group Johnson Matthey was for a specialist catalyst-holding unit for glassmakers Pilkington.
Nearer home, a £500,000 order came from Jacuzzi’s sink-making division in Bradford where a new press was urgently required. Having torn up the original drawings Microdat re-designed, produced and installed the new kit in just three months.
“We design, manufacture, build and install systems, supported by a service operation that contributes growing revenues to our annual income,” said Mr Midgley.
“Britain’s brewing industry is mirrored worldwide and we’re now turning our attention to the export market where we believe there will be tremendous potential for our products.”
