Innovation doubles 
firm’s sales in five years

Lambert, which provides automation systems, equipment engineering and precision components, is benefiting from a £250,000 investment in its new Innovation Centre, which is exploring new ways to increase efficiency and improve performance.

New contracts have boosted existing orders, increasing sales from £10m in 2010 to £19.9m in 2014. Backed by the Business Growth Service, the company has also created 75 jobs during this period and increase exports to nearly 70 per cent of its total turnover.

Managing director Warren Limbert said innovation had allowed the company to expand globally.

“The Peter Wainman Innovation Centre, named after our co-founder, has been a major step forward for the business and given us the ability to strengthen existing relationships and begin working earlier with our customers in their own product development lifecycle,” he said.

“Four people are employed purely in this business unit and have access to state-of-the-art machinery, with further investment planned for the next six months.

“Some of the technology we’ve already made progress on includes robotic glue dispensing, vision inspection, laser welding and cutting, high-speed pick-and-place for medical components and 3D printing of silicon components.”

David Whiteley of the Business Growth Service, which incorporates the Manufacturing Advisory Service and GrowthAccelerator, said the last five years had seen Lambert become a truly global player.

“Importantly, the management team has not stopped there,” he said. “Instead, it has focused on continuous improvement and taking the next steps to ensure it leads its rivals rather than just competes with them.”

Lambert, which has eight apprentices among its 183-strong workforce, has been shortlisted in seven categories of the Manufacturer MX Awards.