Shropshire Star

Recruitment drive under way at Telford firm after sales soar

A Telford industrial automation specialist is on course for its best-ever year.

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Power, control and automation solutions provider and system integrator iconsys has seen sales soar by £5m over the last 12 months after securing a string of new contract wins across a multitude of industries, including maritime, construction materials, metals, energy, transportation and consumer goods.

The company reached a turnover of £14.5m by the end of its 2024 financial year and this has seen it increase its workforce to 81 people, with a recruitment drive for 15 more engineers and support staff currently underway.

It has also invested in two additional technical office facilities at Sci-Tech Daresbury in Cheshire and in Lanarkshire, Scotland, a decision that gives it additional geographic coverage for supporting new clients and in attracting talent from new regional areas.

Nick Darrall, Managing Director of iconsys, said: “Companies across all markets are switching on to the many benefits our control and automated solutions can provide, in terms of improved safety, reliability, efficiency, reducing obsolescence risk and transitioning to net zero. This is translating into a massive growth opportunity for our business.

“Having two new Northern offices offers greater flexibility and allows for a more engaging experience for our existing staff living in and around the region and opens up the talent pool to boost our growing team of ‘best in class’ engineers. Our customers will also benefit from having ‘boots on the ground’ in their area.

“Sales have rocketed towards £15m and our pipeline is looking very healthy for the next 12 months. The way we deliver value at all stages of the process, from consulting, design and build to manufacture, installation and service support sets us apart from our competitors. We are also ‘technology platform-independent’ which is another unique differentiator, ensuring our customers always get the optimal solution.”

He continued: “Some of the decisions we have taken over the last two years have been pivotal to our expansion and have laid the foundations for the next phase.

“This includes the development of our 17,500 sq ft £3m smart factory in Telford, which we’re already looking to substantially extend, the creation of our internal training academy to support staff development and the two additional satellite facilities in Cheshire and Lanarkshire. We’ve also strengthened our senior management team with a host of key Director-level hires in Finance, Sales and HR.”

One of iconsys’ recent wins has been to secure a £1.7m grant from the Department for Transport to build innovative technology that helps decarbonise the maritime sector.

Working with WMG University of Warwick and building materials suppliers CEMEX, the project will deliver an intelligently managed shore power system demonstrator at Shoreham Wharf.

This will be tailored to understand self-discharged commercial vessel’s demanding electrical load fluctuations, incorporating unique battery energy storage and solar energy generation.

Nick added: “Our smart shore system solution is containerised and fits seamlessly into various real estate sizes. It offers many advantages to the maritime sector and beyond, including cost savings, significant CO2 emission reduction, on demand power, operational efficiency, and energy efficient storage. This project positions us as one of the pioneering innovators in maritime and will deliver more £multi-million revenue projects.”