Member Article

Increased global exports allow Barnsley manufacturer Experia to expand

Increased sales abroad have led Barnsley’s Experia, a supplier of multi-sensory equipment, to buy its own premises, invest in infrastructure and create jobs.

Purchase of the 25,000 sq ft of workshop and office space at Acorn Business Park this month follows a £70,000 investment in new IT systems, design software and machinery in the previous 12 months.

Experia also created five new jobs last year bringing its workforce to 19.

Gareth Jones, managing director of Experia, said: “Our strategy over the last year has been to consolidate our business and secure our own premises so that we are in a strong position to develop new products and further extend our customer base.

“We have gained thousands of UK customers since we established the company in 2006 and on top of that our overseas sales leapt up by 70% two years ago.

“We forecast an increase in turnover of 30% over the next 12 months and plan to increase our workforce to 33 within in the next five years.”

“Exports are currently worth £400,000 a year to us and we want to see this figure double in the next twelve months. We now have the talent and infrastructure in place to achieve that – and the room to grow.

Gareth says the UK multi-sensory industry is a world leader partly because it has developed so strongly through the NHS and education system since the1970s.

Experia exports to more than 300 customers based in countries as far afield as Denmark, Dubai, Canada, Cyprus, New Zealand, Mexico and Qatar. It regularly attends international trade conferences, most recently one in the USA, with one in Germany in the diary for September.

The company designs, manufactures and installs a wide range of multi-sensory products from bubble tubes, projectors and pieces of fibre optic equipment to complete, bespoke Sensory Rooms, which can be customised to meet individual requirements.

The purchase of Experia’s premises has been part-funded by a grant from the Regional Growth Fund, managed by Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, and secured with the help of Enterprising Barnsley business coaches.

The property acquisition has also been supported by funding provided by RBS via a Funding for Lending loan.

Experia moved to Barnsley from West Yorkshire in 2011.

Enterprising Barnsley business development manager Shaun Higginbottom said: “Experia is industry leader and a company we are very proud to have in the Barnsley borough.

“Its growing global reach and international reputation is testament to its commitment to innovation, quality and customer care.”

Andy Tyas, relationship director at RBS added: “I am delighted to support Experia with the next stage of the firm’s development.

“Their continued growth and success is impressive and it’s great to see a global business keeping its base in Barnsley and contributing to the growth of the local economy.”

Enterprising Barnsley is supported financially by the European Union and has attracted £2,259,511 investment from the European Regional Development Fund as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development, through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme.

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