Expansion plans have been put in train at high technology torque measuring company Sensor Technology, with a move to additional premises for the operational staff and several other initiatives to prepare the company for a period of sustained growth.
The new building is at Heyford Park near Oxford and houses production, sales and marketing, admin and management. There is also space available for the customer/project research and development team to move to in the foreseeable future, although for now they remain at the original headquarters, a converted water mill in the nearby Cotswolds.
“The mill has tremendous character and, as we’d been there since we founded the company in 1976, a real sense of home to it,” says Company Secretary and founder Tony Ingham. “But we’ve outgrown it and need somewhere more suited to modern business and with better access and communications.”
The quiet location of the mill makes it ideal for the research functions that will remain there. There are several long term research projects underway, including development of a flange-format version of TorqSense, the non-contact torque transducer that is the company’s core product, and an entirely new way of measuring nano-torque for super-precision applications.
Nick Hopkins as Commercial Director has recently joined Ingham and his fellow founders, directors, Anthony and Bryan Lonsdale, on the board. Nick joined the company three years ago after a varied career in the British Army and having gained an MBA.
Sensor Technology is experiencing a step increase in demand for TorqSense since the launch last year of its new 310 series.
“The 310 is designed for serial production, so we are converting from a bespoke systems builder to a volume manufacturer,” says Hopkins. “We’ve managed demand until now by rolling out the different sizes and supporting software in stages. But with Heyford’s production capacity we are now ready to meet the expected higher demands.”
To this end new distributors have been or are being signed up around the globe, including Japan, the Czech Republic, Israel and New Zealand with existing distributors in Germany Italy, India and America in place. Last year exports were 25 per cent of our business, but we are expecting them over the 50 per cent mark by next year.
