A1 Flue Systems is enjoying what it’s calling a ‘Brexit boost’ after seeing a £1m increase in turnover and creating five new jobs in the second half of 2016.
The award-winning Ollerton-based A1 Flues – a UK market leader in the design, manufacture and installation of commercial and industrial chimneys – is putting the increase down to a raft of contract wins and the drop in the value of the pound since the UK voted to leave the EU last summer.
Contract wins include projects for an airport, a football stadium and two university campus buildings, as well as a whole host of offices, hotels and supermarkets across the UK.
The figure doesn’t include an export deal that A1 has just secured for a skyscraper project in downtown Dubai close to the site of the Burj Khalifa – the tallest building in the world.
As the company manufactures everything at its factory in Nottinghamshire, it hasn’t been hit by the same 20% overnight price hikes that many of its UK competitors have faced because they import the lion’s share of their flues from Europe.
Over the past three months, A1 Flues has also employed five new staff to boost its manufacturing, engineering and sales capabilities.
The company – which won a clutch of manufacturing excellence awards in 2016 – is predicting the trend to continue in 2017, boosted by its export drive and an increase in added-value services, such as the maintenance of commercial flue and chimney systems.
Director, John Hamnett added: “We see real scope to significantly increase the revenue we can generate through subsidiary companies such as Commercial Flue Cleaning & Maintenance (CFCM) Ltd and also through the flue systems we are exporting to regions such as the UAE.
“While some businesses see the storm clouds gathering, we only see the clear skies of opportunity ahead.”
