Future cemented for Carlton Manufacturing

Carlton Manufacturing, a developer and manufacturer of sustainable construction materials, has slashed production times by 99 percent thanks to an £1.2m total funding package from Finance Yorkshire.

The initial investment from Finance Yorkshire’s Seedcorn Fund, in March 2012, allowed Carlton to develop an initial range of bagged products and to commence selling into the independent builders’ merchant and timber merchant market place.

Further investment, from Finance Yorkshire’s Seedcorn Fund and Equity Linked Fund, allowed Carlton to move to new larger premises on Davey Road, Goldthorpe, Rotherham. and to radically change its manufacturing process with the purchase of Europe’s newest, state-of-the-art, automated bagging and palletising equipment.

The first pallet of ready mixed concrete which took the team ten hours to manufacture this time last year, now takes just over seven minutes to produce.

Chris Blaxall, Financial Director of Carlton Manufacturing, said: “Our sales are currently growing at a rate of 25 percent per month, and we have increased our headcount from a standing start to more than 20 over the last 12 months.

“The investment from Finance Yorkshire was fundamental to us being able to grow in line with customer demand. The Finance Yorkshire team agreed with our vision and have been extremely supportive throughout the past year enabling Carlton’s significant expansion.

“We are hoping that with the long-term investment from Finance Yorkshire, we are able to double the capacity of our business again next year.”

Julian Viggars, Finance Yorkshire’s Seedcorn Fund Manager, said: “We are delighted with Carlton’s progress and development since our investment. We recognised that Carlton has developed a suite of innovative, sustainable, cement and concrete products that have similar, if not better, performance than traditional products but are still competitive on price.

“We continue to be impressed with their progress and hope to continue to support them for many years to come.”

Carlton Manufacturing was founded in 2011 by entrepreneur Max Smith, together with his brother Guy and Chris Blaxall.

Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to meet their funding requirements for growth and development.

The project is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted £30million investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme, £15million from Yorkshire Forward’s Single Programme, and £45million match funding from the European Investment Bank.

For more information on Carlton Manufacturing visit http://www.carltonmanufacturing.co.uk or for details about Finance Yorkshire go to www.finance-yorkshire.com or ring 0845 649 0000.

Note: this news article is from Finance Yorkshire’s previous fund. Read more about Finance Yorkshire