Known locally as the saviour of the iconic Fox’s Glacier Mint factory which it purchased three years ago, and which now serves as the firm’s 87,000 sq ft headquarters, ADS Laser Cutting has an impressive portfolio of global clients that includes Norton Motorcycles, Sandvik and Network Rail.
It has recently increased its team of full-time employees by 15% and additionally, three existing managers have been promoted to director roles within the Senior Leadership team.
Andy Smith has been promoted from general manager to technical director, Stuart Rowan has assumed the role of production director, and Zeke Keates becomes business support director having started as an apprentice at the firm 10 years ago.
Commenting on the promotions, joint managing director and founder, Duncan Keates said: “Over the past 18 years since founding ADS Laser, we’ve enjoyed sustained growth. When we started, it was just myself and my brother Stephen with support from our wives Angie and Samantha and we were based in a 3,000 sq ft facility.
"Today we’re the proud owners of an iconic headquarters with an 87,000 sq ft facility on 7 acres, supported by a highly skilled team and fortunate to work with some of the best clients in the industry.
“However, success doesn’t come from sitting still and we recognised the need to invest in our management structure for continued growth and to enable us to meet our ambitious targets.
"Together, Andy, Stuart and Zeke have demonstrated their passion for delivering the very best to our clients and to supporting our ever-growing team, and I’m delighted to have their support on our continued growth trajectory. We have also recruited three new fabricators and 2024 will see us actively recruit a new cohort of apprentices.”
ADS Laser Cutting has also made significant investments in other areas of the business. This month, it commissioned a new robotic welding machine worth over £70,000 that will enable the team to deliver unparalleled consistency and efficiency in both time and cost for its fabrication services.
It has also placed orders worth over another £80,000 collectively for a suite of new quality equipment that includes a 2D and 3D laser co-ordinate measurement scanner, a 3D Tripod and associated software.
Concluding on the impact that the investment in equipment will make to clients of ADS Laser, Duncan said: “Our recent investment of over £150,000 in new equipment brings our total investment in 2023 to over £1m. That figure means our clients can be assured of unparalleled consistency and efficiency as well as market-leading quality control standards and, we believe, sets ADS Laser Cutting aside from the competition.
“We hear a lot about business optimism – or lack of – but for ADS Laser, we’re looking ahead to 2024 with renewed optimism.”
