http://www.connorsolutions.co.uk/

A NORTH east electronics firm is reaping the rewards of planning for and investing in its future after securing a major new contract with one of the world’s leading audio/visual equipment designers.

Connor Solutions will now provide electronics assembly services for manufacturing some of Arcam’s high-end industry-leading products, under an agreement which has an annual value of around £3m.

And having also just obtained accreditation from a high-level aerospace industry quality management programme, Connor will now be looking for further expansion into potentially-lucrative new defence markets.

Based in Houghton-le-Spring, Connor Solutions was set up ten years ago and now employs around 160 people.

It specialises in providing low to medium volume Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) to companies operating across a wide range of markets in the UK and Ireland, from industrial and audio/visual to telecoms/datacoms, medical and environmental.

Connor Solutions’ continuing development has been supported with a number of rounds of equity investment from regional fund management firm NEL Fund Managers.

NEL first became involved with the company in 2003, with further investments following in 2004 and then in January this year as a large part of a wider investment package, and it has maintained a presence on Connor’s board of non-executive directors throughout the relationship.

Phil Hall, finance director at Connor Solutions, said: “The business has evolved and grown successfully over the years, but last year, we could see the difficulties that the coming recession would cause all parts of the commercial world, including our customer base, so took the time to review our operations and plan how we would take the business forward. With the recovery now on the way after the recent economic stablisation, we can see a number of new opportunities opening up, such as the new Arcam contract, and we are in great shape to take advantage of them.

“We’ve long recognised that our expertise would be well received in the defence and aerospace markets, and having now got the quality accreditation that the sectors’ leading companies demand that their suppliers have, we believe we will be able to swiftly develop new income streams based on the industry relationships we’re already building.”

Yvonne Gale, portfolio manager at NEL Fund Managers, adds: “Connor Solutions’ success is based on a clear commitment to quality, both in terms of the components they provide and the service they offer, and the management team is well set to grow the business even further.”

http://www.connorsolutions.co.uk/

Oct 21 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal