Funding to help 600 Group build share of market

The Leeds-based company has received the funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial, and it will also be used to support the firm’s continued UK and international growth and to build on its recent market share gains in the US and Europe.

The 600 Group is a diversified engineering group and sells into more than 180 countries worldwide through its brands of Colchester and Harrison machine tools, Pratt Burnerd and Gamet precision components and Electrox laser markers, with operations in Europe, North America and Australia.

The firm recently reported strong financial results, with net operating profit from continuing operations up by 141 per cent to £2.35m, and revenue from continuing operations of £41.71m.

Group order intake for the financial year was 13.7 per cent ahead of the previous year, and market conditions are expected to continue to improve, with industry forecasts anticipating worldwide growth in machine tool consumption of seven per cent, led by North America and Europe.

The funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial has allowed The 600 Group to expand the freehold of its property estate in Colchester, Essex, to help it better manage rental and other business costs.

It will support further international developments via dedicated trade finance facilities as well as providing working capital investment for ongoing growth.

Neil Carrick, group finance director with The 600 Group, said: “We have a focussed growth strategy in place and this has already proved very successful in terms of business development.”