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Firm's doubled profits defy economic gloom
FLOW Group, the fast growing Sheffield-based valve manufacturer, has emerged as South Yorkshire's most profitable SME after doubling its profit from £2.3 million to £4.7 million.
The privately owned company, which does 75 per cent of its business abroad, supplies the industrial gas, mining, oil and gas, marine, defence and chemicals sectors with valves made under the Bestobel, Conflow, Shipham and Leeds Valve brand names.
Flow Group acquired Leeds Valve just over a year ago and bought Advanced Valve Technologies earlier this year.
Leeds Valve was established 19 years ago and has built up a reputation for supplying butterfly valves made from carbon steel to aluminium bronze, stainless steels and titanium, which are used for niche applications in many of the sectors where Flow Group already had a presence.
Meanwhile, top Rotherham profit maker, ASD Lighting has risen from fifth to second overall, following a 50 per cent increase in profits.
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ASD started out with four youngsters on a Youth Training Scheme in a room over a shop, 25 years ago. Today, the lighting manufacturer employs more than 170 people, occupies a healthy slice of the Barbot Hall Industrial Estate, counts Royal Palaces, hospitals, apartment blocks and a range of industrial and commercial developments among its customers and has quadrupled sales over the last six years.
Companies rising up the rankings include Panache Lingerie, Gripple, Candlelight Products, Evans 2000 and Thos C Wild. Panache, founded by former Playtex senior executive Anthony Power in 1982 is one of the world's fastest growing lingerie companies, whose products are found in high street stores such as House of Fraser, Debenhams, John Lewis and catalogue groups like Bravissimo, Grattans and Freemans.
The company is on the move from its 10,000 sq ft headquarters in Sheffield city centre to the 30,000 sq ft former Torexretail building on Drake Business Park at Drakehouse.
Gripple has notched up a number of achievements over the past year, including winning a Queen's Award for international trade and teaming up with Liechtenstein-based construction equipment group Hilti and French agricultural products group Fenox.
Rotherham-based Candlelight's profits have almost quadrupled to 1.25 million, taking the designers, importers and wholesale suppliers of a wide range of household products and giftware straight in to 25th.
Meanwhile, Evans 2000, the Sheffield based piling, tubes and sections stockholder, has shot up from 88th to 28th after more than doubling its profits from 434,000 to 1.1 million.
Thos C Wild has enjoyed similar success, rising from 84th to 29th with profits up 133 per cent from 470,000 to 1.1 million.
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Weather for Sheffield
Thursday 24 May 2012
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