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Lighting
2018: No.23= - £220m
2017: No.30= - £150m

Redditch-based lighting company FW Thorpe is growing in all respects. Not only are profits and revenue on the up, the group has taken extra factory space to expand its road and tunnel lighting business.

And it continues its overseas expansion with the £7 million acquisition of Dutch emergency lighting business Famostar

has stepped down as chairman of the Moons Moat-based company, which designs, manufactures and supplies professional lighting systems. He remains as a part-time executive

The group is doing well and in the year to June 2017 burst through the £100 million turnover mark for the first time. It generated increased sales revenues of £105.4 million, up nearly 19 per cent. Pre-tax profits were also up, hitting £18.4 million.

The AIM-listed company, which floated in 2006, has seven subsidiaries including the strongly-performing Thorlux Lighting, Philip Payne, Solite and Portland Lighting, and employs around 500 people. The company's products sell all over the world.

TRT Lighting, formed in 2013 to make LED lights for roads and tunnels, has taken 20,000 sq ft of extra space on the Washford Industrial Estate in Redditch for its manufacturing, testing and product development facilities.

More than half of the company’s sales come from LED lighting systems, and it is there that the company’s investment in product development is concentrated. Growth is high on the agenda with a £1.4 million Solite factory in Manchester and joint venture companies are growing sales in Australia and, more recently, in the United Arab Emirates.