Golden year for Olympics safety experts

A YORKSHIRE-based safety firm which was involved in the London 2012 Olympics has achieved record full-year results.

Hull-based Arco has reported sales growth and increased profits for the year ending June 2012. Sales for the period were up six per cent, year on year, at £243m. Arco achieved a record profit before tax of £10.5m, which is an increase of 30 per cent on the previous year.

The company, which has 1,500 staff, said its performance had been boosted by a number of public sector contracts.

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Arco was also “extremely proud” to be involved in supplying the London 2012 Games with personal protection equipment, workwear and safety equipment.

Arco is also involved in the Bloodhound project, which aims to inspire a new generation of engineers by developing a supersonic car.

Arco is the exclusive supplier of footwear and workwear to the Bloodhound project’s support team, which is designing and building a car which could raise the world land speed record to 1,000mph in 2014.

In a statement, Arco joint managing directors Thomas Martin and Neil Jowsey said: “Against a background of continuing economic uncertainty and challenging trading conditions, we have delivered our best ever financial results.

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“This is due to our sales strategy delivering some exciting new business wins and excellent growth with existing customers.

“We have also worked hard to support this through management of our costs, new product ranges and the dedication and hard work of all our people.

“As the UK’s market leader in safety, we must constantly review our business to ensure that we remain competitive and deliver excellent service to our customers.

“We’ve spoken to our customers and they’ve told us what’s important to them – exceptional quality, competitive prices and great customer service. Over the coming months, we will deliver a multi-million pound investment programme to improve our performance in each of these key areas.

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“We are confident that this strategy will enable us to remain dynamic and develop successful, long-term improvements that will deliver what our customers need.”

Arco, which dates from 1884, provides a range of 170,000 products, including protective equipment, clothing and footwear.