A Dorset company which has seen its turnover increase by more than 60 per cent in the last ten years is celebrating further expansion.
The ACS Group of Companies, which provides testing and materials consultancy to the construction industry, has acquired 5,400 sq ft premises adjacent to its existing site on Poole’s Holton Heath Trading Park.
The company has invested approximately £100,000 in relocating its hardened concrete testing laboratory to the new premises including the purchase of two new compression test machines
The laboratory also includes a grinding machine for the preparation of concrete, natural stone and rock core samples, an additional compression test machine and four banks of curing tanks with state of the art temperature control providing heating and cooling capabilities.
An overhead crane has also been installed for moving samples from the curing tanks to the point of test, which has significantly reduced the manual handling requirements in the laboratory.
Stuart White, Managing Director, said two new jobs had been created. “This further expansion is a signal of our confidence in the future as well as the need to provide extra facilities to meet the growing demand for services,” he added.
The ACS Group of Companies now employs 60 people and has an annual turnover in excess of £4m, which compares to a staff of 40 and a £2.5m turnover ten years ago.
Mr White said: “Business is good and, in fact, we had our best-ever year in 2013/2014. 2014/2015 also looks very promising.
“ACS Testing was founded in 1987 to provide a quality material testing and consultancy service to the building, construction and civil engineering industries.
“ACS Analysis was formed in 1999 to provide specialist geotechnical materials testing and ACS Environmental Testing was founded in 2007 to provide chemical analysis of contaminated land samples and construction waste.
“We’ve steadily evolved and, between the three companies, we now provide a comprehensive UKAS accredited sampling, site testing and laboratory testing service to determine physical and chemical properties of a wide range of materials in accordance with British, European and international standards along with approved in-house methods.”
Mr White paid particular tribute to his loyal staff and also the company’s long-standing accountants, Princecroft Willis (PcW).
“It’s all about the teamwork and working towards the same goals. A significant number of our staff have been with us for more than ten years – and in two cases in excess of 25 years – while Princecroft Willis is always on hand to provide expert and supportive advice. I regard Mark Johns (PcW’s Managing Director) as one of my most trusted advisers,” he added.