Commodity Technical Services Ltd
About
Provider of UKAS accredited Laboratory analysis of foodstuffs.
The Journey
Established for 18 months, the business had gained UKAS (government) accreditation for a small number of tests on foods. We required additional capital for specialist equipment to enable the expansion of accredited in-house tests offered. The additional equipment will enable the business to compete with other established Laboratories.
Support Provided
A meeting was held with Jaqcui where we identified grants that may be of benefit to the business. The SEBB Grant, was deemed as suitable to assist with the purchase of an HPLC (High performance liquid chromatography) machine.
The support for CTS Ltd is ongoing; so far they have received 10K in grant funding! Â Dr Sage now also sits on the Steering Committee for the Growth Hub helping to shape the future support for local businesses.
Business Support Benefits
The grant funding has accelerated the business development dramatically. Since the installation of the equipment:-
- 2 additional staff have been employed.
- UKAS accreditation for the new tests is expected to be gained by Oct this year.
- Once accreditation is achieved, an increase in turnover of 65K-75K is forecast.
- A profit margin of 75% is expected, compared to 16% currently achieved by using 3rd party laboratories.
- Additional sales staff are currently being sought to assist with marketing of the new suite of tests.
We were approached by Jacqui Stimpson of the Best Growth Hub. The advice we received allowed us to access funding that we did not previously know was available. The funding has allowed us to fast track the expansion of the business and to increase profitability.