Pictured: (l-r) David Cass (Anopol), John Swain (Anopol) and Rachel Eade (MAS-WM Auto)

A West Midlands-based electropolishing specialist which processes parts for Apache helicopters, nuclear reactors and medical implants has recorded its best ever year.

Anopol Ltd, which employs 39 people at sites in Birmingham and Hampshire, exceeded £3m sales after it bounced back from the recession by identifying new markets and investing in the total quality and service of its surface finishing for the customer.

Backed by strategic and financial support from the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), the company has reported growth across the automotive, medical, semiconductor and aerospace sectors, with export sales fast approaching 35%.

It has also seen major interest in its plant design and installation service, with the last three projects delivering more than £1.2m in revenue.

David Cass, recently appointed Managing Director, commented: "The downturn affected us in terms of reduced orders, but thanks to the diverse nature of the business we were able to face the challenge and emerge stronger than before.

"During the recession, we put in place a strategy that focused on improving productivity, spotting opportunities in new markets and really pushing our expertise in designing and manufacturing bespoke electropolishing and pickling facilities."

He commented: "Working with our business partner Delmet in Italy, we have been successful in landing new contracts, including specialist equipment for the pharmaceutical and medical implant sector.

"The latest high profile order has seen us design and install a new pickling plant that surface finishes hot water storage cylinders in a fully enclosed environment, with no operator contact to chemicals and in-cycle treatment of all waste water from the pickling process."

"Using all of our years of experience, we came up with a solution in just four months that reduced processing lead times from hours to minutes and is completely safe and friendlier on the environment...there are also massive returns on investment for the customer."

Established in 1969 by John and Brian Swain (the current Chairman and Technical Director respectively), Anopol has grown into one of the most respected names in the industry for chemical and electrochemical treatments of stainless steel, nickel and nickel alloys.

Its main sub-contract services are pickling and electropolishing of castings, forgings, pressings, wirework and welded assemblies, with the company also offering passivating and the supply of cleaning chemicals for stainless steel direct to the customer.

Recent investment of more than £250,000 has seen it purchase a new 'blacking' process and moved forward diversification into treatments for new metals, such as tungsten, titanium and zirconium.

The growth at its Birmingham facility in the heart of Eastside is mirrored by Anopol (South) in Hampshire, a sister company that was founded in 1994 to help it establish a foothold in the southern region.

"We've come a long way since our first sub-contract order to electropolish stainless steel chocolate moulds for Cadbury's Milk Tray back in the 70's," explained John.

"A lot of our success has been down to our desire to continually evolve, so that we lead the rest of the UK in electropolishing and pickling. This means we are able to offer solutions to some of the most complex projects imaginable; just take the surface finishing we are currently applying to corrosion resistant enclosures to keep electrical gear secure or the top end grills we surface finish for the Bentley Arnage."

MAS has been working with Anopol for nearly five years, providing assistance towards productivity improvements that resulted in savings of £30,000 on waste and increased efficiency by 23%.

It has also provided funding towards the firms ISO 9001 and 14001 programmes and, most recently, support in addressing its social media strategy.

MAS' Rachel Eade concluded: "Anopol is an excellent business that is combining traditional expertise with the latest processes to win customers both at home and abroad.

"The newly strengthened management team responded well to the recession and I'm pleased to see the business exceed its growth targets."