Research thrives following MBO

In its first full calendar year of trading since its 2003 MBO, Rapra Technology, Europe's leading polymer research and test house, achieved year on year growth in sales of 9%.

In its first full calendar year of trading since its 2003 MBO, Rapra Technology, Europe's leading polymer research and test house, achieved year on year growth in sales of 9%.

Full and detailed financial results will not be available until Spring 2004, but Chief Executive Andrew Ward is satisfied with the first findings of last year's commercial performance.

Ward notes: "The performance of our technology division - about 70% of the company - was especially encouraging.

Year on year sales for Rapra's Technology Division increased by some 15%".

Reasons for the growth include: greater incidence of repeat business and higher spending single clients; growth in new product testing areas; growth in pharmaceutical and medical areas; growth in legal and arbitration work; and growth in new polymer-based product design and development work.

In addition, Rapra Technology's successful involvement in small to medium enterprise (SME) programmes for the local region and its winning role in securing EU research grants have both helped to expand the business.

These two elements accounted for over GBP 1 million of Rapra turnover last year.

Almost GBP 0.5 million of funding was managed by Rapra under such schemes as: Plastics West Midlands; the Telford and Wolverhampton Polymer Cluster; the Manufacturing Advisory Scheme (MAS) for the West Midlands; as well as inward investment studies for Advantage West Midlands.

In 2003 Rapra's large projects team, led by Mark Gaddes, achieved sales of GBP 650,000.

Already in 2004, another GBP 300,000 of further European funded projects for polymer-based research has been added to the work portfolio.

Gaddes's team is now expanded to a staff of three and is expected to build upon this success through the next year and beyond.

The first full year of Rapra's MBO regime also saw a wave of fresh investment made by the new Rapra management.

Some GBP 400,000 in capital expenditure was approved at the Shawbury HQ in the summer of 2003.

This investment was the biggest ever made by the consultancy over the course of its 80-year history.

The new capabilities are already strengthening Rapra Technology's position at the forefront of independent polymer analysis in Europe.

Ward notes that the expansion has been enabled by the new structure of the company.

"At the time of the Management Buy Out in July 2002 we promised investment in the fundamentals.

We are delighted to be delivering on that promise now".

Rapra Technology forecasts that demand for its polymer analysis skills in relatively new areas, such as pharmaceuticals and medical device testing, is set to rise by over 85% in the next four years.

Part of Rapra Technology's business aim is to grow this area to a GBP 0.5 million turnover by 2006.

Last year already achieved sales exceeding GBP 300,000 in this area.

Large-scale contract research projects for bodies such as the UK's Food Standards Agency have also encouraged the Rapra expansion in the polymer analysis area.

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