SAFETY SPECIALIST MAKES THE SUNDAY TIMES EXPORT TRACK 100 LIST

Yorkshire-based manufacturer earns position on international sales growth leaderboard

Industrial safety barrier expert A-SAFE has won a place on the prestigious Sunday Times BT Business SME Export Track 100 league table.

The list ranks Britain’s fastest-growing small and medium-sized companies for overseas sales, with A-SAFE being placed #33 on the leaderboard. The Halifax-based manufacturer demonstrated export growth of 71% over the last two years, with total international sales reaching £6.4m in 2014.

A-SAFE are the inventors and manufacturers of fixed polymer safety barriers. The products are used in engineering facilities, factories, logistics, warehousing and other industrial environments to protect personnel and vital structures from impacts from workplace vehicles.

To earn a place on the Sunday Times leaderboard A-SAFE went through an extensive vetting process that included examination of company accounts, interviews with directors and a tour of company headquarters in Elland, near Halifax. Criteria for inclusion demanded exports accounted for at least 20% of total sales.

James Smith, director at A-SAFE said: “Earning a place on this prestigious list is testament to the hard work we have all put in towards growing and expanding A-SAFE internationally. We now have offices in seven countries and resellers around the globe – and we will be opening more overseas subsidiaries this year. We have a world-leading product that performs essential Health & Safety duties in the strongest, most innovative, most cost-effective ways – and that’s something that heavy industries understand wherever they happen to be in the world.”

The Sunday Times SME Export Track 100 recognises that small and medium-sized enterprises are at the heart of the business community and the driving force behind the UK’s economy.

Danny Longbottom, Managing Director of UK SME at BT Business, commented: “I would like to congratulate the businesses recognised in the inaugural Export Track 100, who are proving that it’s not necessarily size that determines international success. These businesses have used a combination of self-starting ambition, smart use of technology, and sheer hard work to punch well above their weight in the global market. The fruits of their labour are contributing to a strong and diverse UK economy, which we can all be thankful for.”