Member Article

Rotherham industrial battery firm hits £4 million turnover after £120k injection

Rotherham specialist firm Industrial Battery and Charger Services Limited (IBCS) has reported over £4 million turnover after support from Finance Yorkshire enabled its expansion.

The firm specialises in the supply of forklift batteries and is predicting further growth after a £120k Business Loan from Finance Yorkshire enabled the company to move from its original base in Darnall, Sheffield, to premises at Hellaby.

The business has since moved again, to premises twice the size at the same location, to meet the growth in customer demand.

Jonathan Jones bought IBCS with Glynn Woon in 2001 and together with Sales Director Paul Hewson they employ more than 20 staff. Turnover has grown from £2.6 million in 2012 to more than £4 million in 2014.

Jonathan said: “The investment from Finance Yorkshire was crucial to our first move and then giving us the springboard to move again. We’re 40 per cent ahead of where we were last year and we are planning for strong growth in the next 12 to 18 months through new and existing customers.”

IBCS has seen significant growth in the hire of its forklift truck batteries and chargers where there is demand from companies moving large amounts of stock, particularly in peak seasons.

IBCS is also investing in training and development. “We are bringing apprentices through the business as well as investing in the development of our engineers,” said Jonathan. “We have got an excellent group of people and their customer service, the quality of our product and our modern warehouse allows us to operate more efficiently and achieve growth.”

Melanie Reynolds, portfolio executive at Finance Yorkshire, said: “IBCS is a great example of a company that has significantly grown as a result of investment from Finance Yorkshire.

“It is a well-established company which has shown consistent growth and profitability and has the ability to further cement its leading position in the UK market.”

To date, Finance Yorkshire has made 694 investments totalling £90 million.

It provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to meet their funding requirements for growth and development.

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