Member Article

Component supplier expands to US following increased innovation from the manufacturing sector during pandemic

High precision components supplier, Accu, has increased sales by 60% during the COVID-19 pandemic, and is expected to turnover between £6-7m this financial year, due to soaring demand from the engineering and manufacturing sectors. An initial slump in March – due to the first COVID-19 lockdown – was quickly counteracted by a need from manufacturers to innovate new products quickly.

Able to design and manufacture prototypes within a very small timeframe, the company – which was founded in 2012 – has supplied engineering components to F1, Mars Rover and ventilator manufacturers in the last few months. It also supplied components to PIVOT Fitness, a company which manufactures a bed which turns into a home gym.

In November, Accu hit three new sales records in one week, culminating in 500 orders – the most taken in a day – its highest daily revenue – £50,000 – and its highest weekly revenue. This rise in demand aided the company’s decision to have a physical presence in the USA, enabling the firm to offer a round-the-clock service to its global manufacturing clients.

Co-founder, Martin Ackroyd, noted some interesting findings. He said: “At the start of lockdown, business to consumer sales showed significant growth. We quickly discovered that furloughed engineers were investing their own time and money in early prototypes – and they took advantage of our high precision components, available in small quantities.

“Then, as the manufacturing sector realised that they had a huge part to play in the fight against COVID-19, engineers were taken off furlough and were required to innovate solutions for the medical frontline – such as ventilators. Our customers were incredibly agile, and I’m proud that we were able to support them with fast prototyping of components.”

To deal with such a huge increase in demand, Accu has implemented a double shift pattern at its warehouse and is eyeing up a second location to enable an even quicker response to clients’ needs.

Martin finished: “2021 is looking like another record-breaking year. 2020 has not been easy, but we’ve proven that we’re able to support our client base during tough times, and it is these relationships that will mature next year – they’ll come back to us for their larger production needs when the market recovers.

“We currently export to 150 countries worldwide, and we intend to set up distribution centres around the world – we are just at the start.”

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