Member Article

NEL Fund Managers facilitate Monitor expansion

Monitor Coatings is set to bring new business and jobs to the North East, thanks to a £400,000 investment in the business by NEL Fund Managers.

Since the North Tyneside industrial coatings firm obtained investment at the end of 2010, the business has created 9 new jobs with a further 3 to follow in the near future, taking up the total workforce to 43. It has also helped the firm to increase its annual turnover by almost a quarter to around £5 million pounds.

The firm has since invested over £500,00 in new production equipment, as well as implementing a range of new IT, health and safety and HR systems, which has helped Monitor to develop their roster of major multi-national clients.

Finance director Philip Winspear says: “Bringing in outside investment gave us both the capital and the confidence we needed to put our expansion plans into action, and to bring in the equipment and systems we knew we needed to help scale Monitor up to become a robust medium-sized business.

“The machine supply industry has been quite badly affected by the recession, and equipment suppliers now want large deposits before they will even consider working with you.”

Monitor was founded in 1927 and provides high quality coatings for customers in a range of industries including aerospace, oil and gas exploration, steel and alternative energy generation. Working with a number of internationally known brands including Rolls-Royce, Tata, Halliburton and Bombardier, the firm is keen to develop the business even further over the next 12 months.

Growth Fund capital gave the firm the necessary financial resources to support growth, and has directly contributed to their positive commercial growth.

Simon Johnson, senior investment executive at NEL Fund Managers, adds: “Monitor’s management team saw the difference that investment capital could make to their operations, and have already secured substantial commercial returns from backing their business ambitions in this way.

“Their success is a great example of how north east companies can use the money available from the Growth Fund to help them realise objectives that would otherwise be out of reach.”

Mr Winspear added: “Making improvements to your systems gives blue chip companies confidence that they can trust you to deliver the quality of product and service that they promise to their own customers, and we’ve been able to become part of the supply chain for an increasing number of this type of business over the last 12 months as a result.

“Despite the prevailing economic climate, we’ve managed to increase our north east workforce by more than a quarter, and with prospects looking very positive for 2012, we expect to be taking on even more staff as the year unfolds.”

Aimed at regional businesses which are at a development and growth stage, the Growth Fund forms 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 .