A young entrepreneur has proved he knows the nuts and bolts of his Warwickshire business, by driving it to a £1.1 million turnover in just two-and-a-half years.
Scott Simpson set up Auto Fasteners when he rented a desk at an office in Churchlands Industrial Estate in Harbury in June 2009.
The business, which specialises in supplying engineered fasteners to major OEM (original equipment manufacturer) car companies, has purchased a 4,750 sq ft premises in Holywell Business Park in Southam with funding from Yorkshire Bank’s Financial Solutions Centre (FSC) in Coventry.
Scott, 25, travelled to motor company giants across Europe and North America to establish realtionships and build his supplier accounts. Auto Fasteners is now a Tier One supplier for Volvo, Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Bentley Motors, Aston Martin, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Renault Trucks and Jaguar.
Scott, who lives in Southam, said: “It is amazing how quickly the business has grown. I started off renting a desk in a corner of a room in Harbury, and then I moved across the road into a bigger unit because I needed more storage and space to grow.
“The company outgrew that place very quickly, and we re-located to Holywell Business Park. It was an empty shell, and we were able to create a reception area, boardroom, administration offices and a warehouse with racking. We have also put a mezzanine floor in the warehouse to create even more storage.
“With an established, global supplier base, we are able to cater for the widest range of automotive fasteners for our OEM customers. We are now a Tier One supplier to various leading OEM manufacturers.
“At the start, I was working all hours and I wasn’t switching off because I was dealing with people in America, who were five hours behind us in the UK, and my suppliers in Taiwan, who were in front of us, so in reality I could have been working 24 hours if I chose.
“I really enjoy working for myself, and the hard work has paid off and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I now employ two people as well, and with the move to bigger premises and securing turnover of £1.1 million last year, we are going in the right direction.”
Stephen Cronin, managing partner at Yorkshire Bank’s Financial Solutions Centre (FSC) at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, said it was really impressive that Scott has become a Tier One supplier to motor manufacturers, like Bentley and Jaguar, within such a short space of time.
“Auto Fasteners centres on importing and exporting, and the speed Scott’s business has grown emphasises not only how much hard work he has put in, but also how he spotted a gap in the market and has made the most of it.”