MD warns of confidence issues

MALTHOUSE Engineering, which has a Yorkshire operation, has posted increased turnover despite the company’s boss warning of tough times ahead for manufacturing SMEs.

Managing director Roy Taylor said: “At Malthouse Engineering we have seen an upturn in orders from existing customers but also significant interest in our services from new customers.”

Mr Taylor suggested the old adage of not putting all your eggs in one basket has worked for the firm, the UK’s largest steel profiler.

The company supplies more than 42 different sectors including nuclear, oil and gas, automotive, agricultural machinery and earth moving machinery and has four sites across the UK above and beyond its Oldbury headquarters:  Worcester, West Bromwich, Wednesbury and Wakefield.

Mr Taylor added: “It has always been a priority of mine to ensure that no one sector or market accounts for more than 3% of our turnover. By doing this we maximise returns as when one sector is in severe decline it is balanced by another in its ascendancy.

“This way we ensure the overall business is not impacted by any downturn.”

But despite its own success, Taylor is concerned that a lack of investment from small and medium-sized organisations (SMEs) in new projects, innovation and employment could cause a stagnation in growth and may see the economy dip into recession again.

“Uncertainty is causing us to hold back investment in new projects which could result in missed opportunities, lack of expansion and reduced efficiencies,” he said.

He admits that uncertainty has affected his own company. “At Malthouse we have put on hold projects to improve our capabilities and increase our output. Experienced, unemployed engineers that could be employed have not been hired.”