Member Article

£10m vision provides a perfect 20th birthday present

A Birmingham-based independent metering specialist is celebrating a ‘big birthday’ in style after it announced 25% growth, the creation of five new jobs and plans for a significant investment drive.

MWA Technology, which supplies the latest electricity, gas, oil, water and energy meters to industrial, commercial and local government clients, is 20 years old in 2013 and is marking the occasion by embarking on a major expansion programme.

Employing 28 people across its two sites on Wharton Street Industrial Estate, the company is looking to increase sales to £10m over the course of the next three years as demand for its bespoke solutions grows from across the UK and Europe.

It has already invested heavily in increasing its stockholding capability and further funding is being channeled into increasing the range and diversity of its meters.

This allows it to move with changes in technology and to meet the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) that demands precision metering to ensure reduced energy and water usage without compromising building conditions and business operations.

Martin Wardell, who founded the business back in 1993, picked up the story:

“I was consulting for industry when someone asked me to source a specialist gas meter (the TBX) for them. Using my knowledge and contacts within the sector, I was able to source it from the USA, which really surprised the client. This got me thinking about turning it into a business in its own right and today we are the sole UK distributor of this product.

“The main task was to build the range gradually and for the first few years I worked from a small office and stores at home. I could never have imagined from such humble beginnings that we’d boast a £4m turnover some 20 years later.”

He continued: “In 2012 we achieved record sales and increased business across the UK, thanks mainly to our ability to provide bespoke solutions to our clients metering problems.

“It’s not just a case of being the most competitive when it comes to price, it’s about understanding the customer, the application and matching it with the most effective meters out there.”

MWA Technology currently supplies its metering solutions to distributors, contractors, OEMs and energy monitoring professionals, with high profile projects completed at Oxford University, Kew Gardens and Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre.

Recent investment has doubled the size of its logistics and warehouse operation as well as introducing new services to clients including repair and refurbishment of meters, testing, technical and on-site support.

This expansion is being supported by a more concerted approach to marketing, which has seen the launch of its new website (www.mwatechnology.com), a 75-page brochure and attendance at exhibitions such as Sustainability Live 2013.

Martin continued: “Previously, new business has come from referrals, word of mouth and people finding us through the web. We want to change this so that we are more pro-active by actually putting ourselves in the shop window for larger contracts.

“We’ve already seen the impact of this new approach with MWA successfully tendering and starting to deliver the ICE-Wish Project. This involves supplying the latest energy and water monitoring systems for social housing tenants so they can monitor their usage data via their home TVs.”

He concluded: “Importantly, these will be installed across 20 EU countries, increasing our export turnover immediately.”

For further information please visit www.mwatechnology, contact 0121 327 7771 or follow on twitter @mwa_technology

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .