We are delighted to have been named Manufacturing Business of the Year at the Business Leader Awards in Bristol. We are extremely happy to have won this prestigious and high profile award. With over 220 companies entering, and it also being the first year Vapormatt have entered, we are very surprised and honoured to have been nominated, let alone having won our category.
To be seen as the Manufacturing Business of the Year is great as our focus is on manufacturing the best wet blasting technology in the world, to supply solutions to the industries we target from aerospace, to tooling, nuclear to wire and cable. Thank you to all the judges and to the team at Vapormatt for supporting our entry.
According to the Business Leader judges, below are the reasons for our win:
- Significant growth since 2017 (140% increase in turnover and increasing profits)
- Continued R&D – look to develop at least 1 new component every month and investment in machinery purely for R&D
- Bought new site in Bridgwater after outgrowing old site. Had to hit order book of £3.5m and did this before buying site. Already looking to expand the building on the site to bring production in house
- Working with local colleges on apprentice programme to bring in junior team members
- Training for sales team, leadership team and project manager to upskill with clear customer and innovation focus. Continuous improvements
- Taking production in house slowly to improve quality – using local supplier where possible and finding better quality and price in number of instances
- Innovation – just sold first robotic arm for machine – required significant R&D
- Export – 80% of new sales are outside the UK. Take significant export finance. In process of setting up regional business unit in USA – sales and engineering
- Achievement – bringing the team together to new larger property giving the opportunity to innovate and develop more
- Reason for win – significant growth from R&D and export, investment in innovation, bringing more work in house and working with local college to build apprenticeship programme
Congratulations to all!!
