Firm sets sights on expansion

Senior Architectural Systems Ltd, which supplies products for commercial building projects, now expects to increase its turnover this year.

Established in Bradford in 1991, the firm moved to Denaby Main in 2002 and also has factories in South Wales and Scotland.

It currently exports to Ireland and the US and is now looking to expand further.

Managing director Lennart Jonsson said: “Last year we had a turnover of £25 million but this year we should be closer to £30m, so looking ahead we’re hoping to employ more people and invest further in the business by developing new product lines.

“We are using the funding to buy extra stock for the glass business and for general cash flow purposes. The market is very tight at the moment so cash flow is more of an issue for all sorts of businesses which means that our customers may not be able to pay us as promptly and that can have a knock-on effect.

“We originally received help from Finance Yorkshire’s predecessor South Yorkshire Investment Fund (SYIF) in 2005. We later bought a glass factory in 2009 and they helped us once again then,” he added.

Mr Jonsson said the application had been dealt with quickly and the company had benefitted from having a well-established relationship with the lender.

Finance Yorkshire portfolio manager David Ward said cash flow was one of the main reasons for businesses to face problems and underlined the importance of the organisation’s role in assisting viable businesses with their growth and ambitions.

Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m and has invested over £13 million in companies throughout Yorkshire and the Humber since 2010.

The project has attracted £30 million from the European Regional Development Fund, £15 million from Yorkshire Forward’s Single Programme and £45 million match funding from the European Investment Bank.