A West Yorkshire business which supplied more than 50 Electrical Control Systems to the Olympic Park ahead of the 2012 London Games, has been awarded a £200,000 Equity Linked investment from Finance Yorkshire.
Elland based Control House, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, was established by Paul Summerskill as a high-tech manufacturing company specialising in all aspects of Electrical & Software based Control Systems.
Today, the business supplies customers across a range of industries, from waste disposal and recycling to aerospace and process control. Alongside the Olympic Park, projects include Europe’s largest plastic bottle recycling plant in Lincolnshire, a nuclear power station waste retrievals system, a funicular railway in South Korea, and test rigs for the Airbus A380; the world’s largest passenger aircraft. Control House also has customers in the Oil & Gas Industry, Animatronics and a host of other sectors.
The investment from Finance Yorkshire is the result of a decade of hard work on the part of Paul and his wife Claire, who started Control House in Paul’s previous home. They have already started putting the investment to work by investing in key new members of staff, new technologies and strengthening internal systems and technology. Currently, they are recruiting for further roles. A new website, set to launch in early December, is mobile enabled and will feature a raft of new content including video and case studies.
Finance Yorkshire introduced financial advisor and business strategist Margaret Ferris to the business to prepare forecasts and develop the financial accounting. Margaret has since joined Control House as a Non Executive Director.
Founder and Director of Control House Paul Summerskill, said: “This investment is a fantastic 10th birthday present for the business, and will open up so many opportunities for us. Our new staff will play a crucial role in growing the business strategically; working towards higher volume work, focusing on customer service and ultimately building the foundations for long-term success.”
He added: “From the outset, Finance Yorkshire has been incredibly supportive and understanding of our needs.”
Katharine Braim, Finance Yorkshire Investment Manager said: “Control House is an established business with an excellent reputation in a niche market. It has positioned itself as flexible but competitive against other players in the sector, led by an experienced team who understand the operational and technical requirements of their customers. All of these factors, along with Control House’s story so far, made the business an ideal investment for our Equity Linked Fund.”
Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to meet their funding requirements for growth and development.
The project is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted £30million investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme, £15million from UK Government and £45million match funding from the European Investment Bank.
