How a Warwick electronic business has managed to fight off the challenges of the pandemic - and could now reach £4million in sales this year

Left to right: Barbara Hazi and Martin Hancock (both C-MAC SMT). Photo supplied

An electronic business in Warwick has fought off the challenges of the pandemic - and is now looking to a bright future.

C-MAC SMT, which employs 28 people at its state-of-the-art facility in Warwick, has overcome the problems caused by both Brexit and Covid-19 to post £3.2million in sales for the last twelve months, with initial projections suggesting the £4m barrier is in reach for 2021.

It marks a record year for the business and comes just two years after it was bought by Belgian-based C-MAC.

C-MAC SMT, which employs 28 people at its state-of-the-art facility in Warwick, has bounced back from the challenges of Brexit and Covid-19 to post £3.2million in sales for the last twelve months. Photo supplied

“I don’t think anyone has ever seen 12 months like we’ve just had,” said Richard Halton, business development manager for C-MAC SMT.

“From the start of the pandemic to this day, we have managed to keep the factory open, with the shopfloor switching to socially distanced production and office staff working from home.

"Despite all of these challenges and many of our automotive customers halting work for a period of time, we still grew turnover 29 per cent in 2020.”

He added: “This has continued in the first quarter of 2021, with the car industry bouncing back beyond all expectations, joining some new wins in the medical sector – an industry rich in potential for our expertise in PCBs and electronic assembly.

“Electrification is a massive opportunity for us as well and this is why we are using our membership of the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN) to pool resources with the likes of Alucast, Brandauer and PP Control and Automation.

"Together, we have the complementary expertise to offer the OEMs and end users access to a single-source manufacturing solution.”

Richard concluded: “Brexit, at first, had little effect on our supply chain as the majority of our suppliers had all the necessary paperwork in place. However, during the last couple of months we’ve begun to see cracks appear and delays on components arriving to use from Europe.

"What would normally be two to three days has now gone out to three to six weeks delivery times.

“Hopefully, this will just be a temporary issue as 2021 is shaping up to be a very good year for C-MAC SMT, as we aim to reach £4m for the first time in our history.”