For the second year in a row the Carfulan Group has been selected to appear in the London Stock Exchange’s ‘1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ report, a publication that celebrates the nation’s fastest-growing and most dynamic small to medium-sized businesses.
The report lists companies that have shown consistent revenue growth over a minimum of three years, significantly outperforming their industry peers.
But how does a company which has already supplied more than 1,500 machines to the UK manufacturing sector continue to flourish and grow?
Here, Managing Directors Chris and Matt Fulton provide an insight…
“Three words painted in bold black lettering sit proudly on the wall of our Derbyshire headquarters: Precision, Performance, Perfected,” said Chris.
“Since the Carfulan Group’s inception around three decades ago, the ‘three Ps’ have been our guiding light. They are ingrained into our culture and sit at the very heart of the many special things we have accomplished both with and for our customers.
“Our mission at the Carfulan Group is clear – to empower manufacturers to improve their production processes and achieve end-product excellence.”
Matt said: “By providing front-to-back manufacturing technologies, from design through production to quality control, we want businesses to exceed their own expectations and go from strength to strength.
“Demand and confidence in UK manufacturing continues to grow, and this has enabled us to identify and specialise in the full range of complementary technologies serving the sector.
“Our intuitive products are helping businesses to move smoothly towards Industry 4.0 – a new era of interconnectivity, automation and self-monitoring where machines have the ability to analyse and communicate with both each other and their human co-workers, creating smoother processes and more productive ‘smart factories.’”
Chris continued: “We offer best-in-class solutions at every stage of the manufacturing process – and we’re able to do it for businesses of all sizes.
“The opening of a state-of-the-art showroom space at our HQ in 2015 gave our engineers to work more closely with customers on specific applications and ultimately helped to increase turnover from £5 million to £12 million in just two years.
“That was followed by the purpose-built Additive Manufacturing Centre in January 2019, a neighbouring facility that hosts the latest Stratasys 3D printers and means that our demonstration and training capabilities have reached a whole new level.”
Matt said: “Modern manufacturing is about speed and efficiency, with no compromise on quality, particularly when parts are highly complex and governed by industry regulations. We’ve experienced a huge push towards additive manufacturing technologies, which can produce detailed, accurate models more quickly than traditional methods, in tough but lightweight materials.
“Our products and software are in high demand in the precision engineering arena – in December 2018, our inaugural ‘Manufacturing Performance Network’ event attracted more than 140 visitors from all around the UK. Quarter one of the 2018-19 financial year was a record one for the group in terms of revenue and our new three-year business plan is designed to build on that success.
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the UK economy and we’d now like to see a continued Government focus on UK manufacturing. It would be nice to see the uncertainty around Brexit being resolved quickly. Any final deal must be a positive one for the country in terms of giving businesses the confidence to base their operations here rather than forcing them to consider a move overseas.
“For some time now we’ve been speaking to our suppliers and do not expect to feel any negative impact of Brexit, irrespective of the final outcome. That peace of mind will allow us to move forward with confidence.”
Chris concluded: “Ultimately, we are a family-owned business committed to investing in the talent of local people. Their dedication and expertise is crucial to delivering our objectives.
“Having a clear set of core values and living by them in everything you do means a business can focus on its customers, build and maintain long-lasting relationships and enjoy their loyalty in return.
“We look forward to continuing to make a positive difference in our area of expertise.”