Member Article

North East lighting importer celebrates £150,000 investment

Thanks to a £150,000 investment, a North East importer is looking to extend its commercial presence across the whole of the UK.

Amitex LED Lighting Co Ltd specialise in a vast range of green, energy efficient LED lighting producers to some of the biggest electrical wholesalers in the UK.

Since the company was established in 2003, the firm has established a commercial presence in London, Bristol, the Midlands and East Anglia. However, following the increase in demand for their products, the firm is now looking to fill the geographical gaps to become a national concern.

The recent £150,000 investment from the Finance for Business North East Growth Fund will now help the firm to achieve their ambitions, extending their operations, and allowing them to bring innovative new products to market.

Managing director Alan Morton believes that the cost-efficiency and environmentally friendly nature of the product will appeal to consumers looking to save on energy bills and be greener in their own homes.

He commented: “We’ve established ourselves firmly in a number of different parts of the UK, but know that there are more commercial rewards out there if we’re able to repeat this process across the areas we haven’t had the resources to address yet.

“The north east very much remains our headquarters, but the infrastructure developments we have planned will make us a truly national concern, and will give us an even stronger platform from which to sell on the growing range of attractive products that we provide.

“We looked at a number of different funding options, but got the best response to our proposition from the NEL team – they wanted to get the deal done and we’re very pleased to have been able to make it happen.”

Jane Siddle, investment executive at NEL Fund Managers, adds: “The Amitex LED team has turned detailed knowledge of a growing niche market into a very effective business model, and their commercial ambitions presented a very strong investment case to us.”

The Growth Fund is aimed at regional businesses which are at a development and growth stage, and form part of the wider Finance for Business North East Fund.

Managed by North East Finance, it will see £125m of investment capital injected into the region by the European Investment Bank, the European Regional Development Fund 2007-13 and the regional development agency over the next five years.

NEL is looking to make around 130 investments over the five-year life span of the Growth Fund, and is actively looking to speak to ambitious north east companies with robust business plans.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .