This figure was achieved thanks to an increase in the sales of its ProtoTRAK-controlled mills and lathes. Sales of the company's vertical machining centres and turning centres remained stable over the same period.
To further capitalise on sales XYZ has undertaken a recruitment programme to bring in additional sales staff and also to develop and strengthen its service department. Martyn Jones has been appointed as area sales manager, with responsibility for supporting existing and developing new business in the Sheffield, Derby and Coventry postcode areas. In addition, XYZ is extending the support it provides to the education sector, which generates almost £2.5 million of sales/year, with the appointment of John Aspinall who will work alongside XYZ's education sales director, Kerry Kidd.
Recognising the UK-wide shortage of skilled people that can be recruited as service engineers, XYZ has also instigated a training programme to develop its own service engineers in-house. The first recruit, Alan Powell, has already begun training.
XYZ is also expanding its showroom/demonstration capability: a purpose-built Midlands showroom is being constructed to replace the existing Nuneaton facility. This new 5,500 ft2 showroom will provide demonstration and conference facilities when it opens in February 2016.
"A big thank you to all the customers that have continued to support XYZ in what was a record breaking year for the company. Our strategy of recruiting and training service engineers in-house is also encouraging and will ensure that we are able to provide the levels of service that our customers expect from XYZ Machine Tools for the foreseeable future," says Nigel Atherton, Managing Director, XYZ Machine Tools.
