TMAT, the multi-national manufacturer of acoustic components for tractors and excavators, has announced that it has had a record start to the year.
The company has created close to £2million in sales in January (£1million) and February (£900,000), smashing its own sales target for 10% growth by a further 10% in each month.
TMAT designs and engineers solutions to noise, vibration and harshness for agricultural, construction, earthmoving and counts Case, JCB and Volvo as customers.
These figures come in spite of the bad news in the Monthly Business Survey by the Office for National Statistics that the seasonally adjusted index fell by 2.9% in January 2013 compared with January 2012, with a 3.0% fall in UK manufacturing.
All of this has occurred in a market that TMAT’S managing director, Jason Lippitt, describes as ‘stagnant’ and which has seen an increase in intense competitor activity and aggressive pricing.
Mr Lippitt was bullish, saying: “TMAT doesn’t compete on price, and we won’t cut prices or even match them to those of our competitor. If that means that we lose one or two customers along the way, then so be it.
“We firmly believe that the only way to get on is to provide a superior product and service to our customers. The brilliant start to the year we’ve had is testament to that approach.”
TMAT currently has a sales pipe line of some £4.5million and recently announced plans to expand into Brazil, setting up a factory there in anticipation of the planned infrastructure overhaul in the country ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.
The company will retain engineering design and intellectual property at its Chesterfield site and believes that the Brazil opportunity could well create further UK jobs as it generates more demand upon specialist engineering resources.
TMAT’s growth has risen from £5m per year to more than £10m since 2009 and the company aims to drive turnover to more than £20 million by 2015.
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