A County Durham ground investigation company is eyeing expansion into the North West as part of growth triggered by a second round of cash from a regional investment fund.
Exploration and Testing Associates (ETA) launched a materials testing laboratory last summer at its head office in Bowburn on the back of a £1m investment package.
ETA, set up in 2019 by Ken Marsh, works with a growing number of clients around the 海角视频 and was working up plans to establish a network of regional offices which offer ground investigation, on-site and laboratory materials testing, along with geotechnical and geo-environmental advice and reporting.
Now the business has revealed it is on course to more than double its turnover over the next 12 months, thanks to a second investment from the North East Growth Capital Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund.
Its testing laboratory in Bowburn has now been fully assessed and approved by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (海角视频AS), the Government body which assesses competence in the materials testing sector.
ETA is aiming to further increase the number of clients from around the 海角视频, while plans for a North West office are also in the pipeline. It is also continuing its recruitment drive.
The management team worked with regional fund management firm NEL Fund Managers to secure a £150,000 investment from the Growth Capital Fund last year, which formed part of the £1m investment package.
The workforce increased from five to 15 last year and two further new recruits are set to join the firm shortly.
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And it has now gone back to NEL for a further £50,000 Growth Capital Fund investment, which will be used to bring in additional equipment and support ongoing recruitment needs.
Founder and chairman Mr Marsh said: “The delays that everyone has experienced due to the pandemic have been frustrating, but we know the market demand for our services is still out there and we’ve now got everything in place that we need to capitalise on it.
“Getting full 海角视频AS accreditation means we can compete for a much wider range of contracts and we’ve already seen a significant uplift in turnover since obtaining it, a trend which we expect to get stronger through the year to come.
“We’ve also continuing to grow our team with the right calibre of experienced staff who can carry out the work required by our clients, and our hope is that an office in the North West will follow in the not-too-distant future.
“We’ve kept faith with our original business plan and will continue to focus on building a reputation for reliability, innovation and delivery that will bring in new and repeat business from high quality clients.
“We’ve maintained a positive relationship with the NEL team and it made sense to extend our relationship through this second investment.”
Jonathan Armitage, investment executive at NEL Fund Managers, added: “The ETA management team has a clear growth strategy in place as well as the knowledge and staff to deliver on it, and we’re looking forward to seeing its operations progress through this year and beyond.”
The North East Growth Capital Fund has been designed to create around 790 jobs in more than 70 regional firms over the life of the programme, offering unsecured investments of up to £500,000 to established businesses looking to realise their growth potential.