Shropshire's Skylaunch set to produce world's first electric winch

A Shropshire company has embarked on a low-carbon project to produce the world's first electric winch in a move which could more than double turnover.

Leading glider and sailplane winch manufacturer Skylaunch is working with a specialist electrical designer to develop a prototype which could be ready by next year.

Managing director Adam Greaves said the Sky Evo would be the world's first winch powered by an electric motor and would provide a unique offering in their marketplace.

Skylaunch, which de-signs, develops and manufactures a wide range of glider winches, cable retrieve winches and bespoke winches for customers throughout the world from its base in Wem, is hoping to launch the prototype at Aero 2011 Friedrichshafen, the largest glider show in the world.

It is anticipated that more than 10 of these "green" models could be ordered in the first year, doubling the firm's turnover to £2 million.

Mr Greaves said: ""Sky Evo represents the next step in our development and, when completed, will mean we can manufacture every type of winch possible - something none of our rivals can match."

"As a relatively small business, it is extremely cost and time intensive to develop a completely new model so we decided to look for external assistance to help move the project forward quicker than we could on our own.

The company, which employs eight people at its 20,000 sq ft site on Wem industrial Estate, has received support and funding for the project from the Manufacturing Advisory Service - West Midlands.

Mr Greaves said the mix of strategic and financial support received in the past six months had been crucial in helping take an "exciting idea for the world's first electric winch and moving it towards reality".

He said: "We were introduced to MAS-WM's Rodger Cooper, who immediately impressed me with his ability to come in, understand our business and what we were trying to achieve. He quickly came up with some funding support to help bring in an electronic design engineer and is continuing to act as a business mentor during the process."