Member Article

IC Blue on the move with HSBC support

A Yorkshire business started in the spare room of the founder’s apartment has just moved into brand new premises in Leeds city centre in a deal backed by HSBC’s Leeds and Bradford Commercial Centre.

IC Blue, an importer and global wholesaler of board level electronic components to end user manufacturers has moved into 5,000 sq ft premises on Neptune Street after securing a £465,000 funding package from HSBC. The company previously operated from offices on Cookridge Street.

The move will enable IC Blue to treble the amount of stock it can hold onsite, expand its international sales and seek the level of accreditation required to trade with sectors such as aerospace. IC Blue is currently active in the following sectors: consumer goods, medical, telecoms and automotive. The company, which currently employs 20 people, is creating five new jobs as a result of the move and intends to add a further 15 by the end of the year.

IC Blue has been an HSBC customer since it was formed in 2003 and the latest deal was led on behalf of the bank by International Commercial Manager Liam Penfield.

The company was formed by Matthew Ward and Andrew Lucas in Andrew’s spare room, primarily servicing other distributors in Europe. Andrew had previously worked in the electronics industry, whilst Matthew had just graduated from Leeds University.

IC Blue now offers 40 million product lines, supplying end-user manufacturers across a range of sectors globally. The company turns over more than £4 million a year and generates approximately 70% of sales from overseas clients, with Europe, South America and the US being its main markets.

IC Blue Director Matthew Ward said: “This new building moves our business on to the next level. It will enable us to target a wider range of market sectors, such as aerospace, and will also allow us to penetrate our export markets deeper. We want to increase sales in our core international markets and we have now been able to recruit the sales staff required to do that from the Leeds area, in addition we have expanded our long term capacity to store product to support customer production requirements. HSBC’s involvement was integral to this deal and we have worked closely with Liam to see it through to completion.”

Mike Hemingway, HSBC Leeds and Bradford Area Commercial Director, added: “IC Blue is a company that has expanded by spotting a gap in a market and taking advantage of it. It is a young, ambitious company that has a clear goal to expand its international business. I am pleased we have been able to support the acquisition of its new premises and we look forward to working with the company going forward.”

Leeds-based property agents Michael Steel & Co and DTZ acted as joint property agents for the vendor, Canal and River Trust. Andrew Steel of Michael Steel and Co said: “This is an important historic riverside building sympathetically converted to quality offices which ideally suits IC Blue’s expansion requirements; all parties to the transaction were determined, diligent and expeditious in completing the deal.”

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