A company which won a key contract for the 2012 London Olympics has struck gold with a job-creating funding deal.
Elland-based Control House has been awarded a £200,000 equity-linked investment from Finance Yorkshire.
It’s the latest success for the firm, which specialises in all aspects of electrical and software-based control systems.
The company employs 20 people and marks its 10th anniversary this year. It has recruited a further 10 staff as a result of the deal.
Control House supplied more than 50 electrical control systems to the Olympic Park for the 2012 London Games.
The firm supplies customers across a range of industries – from oil and gas, waste disposal and recycling to aerospace, animatronics and process control.
Projects have included supplying systems to Europe’s largest plastic bottle recycling plant in Lincolnshire, a nuclear power station waste retrievals system, a cable-operated railway in South Korea, and test rigs for the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft.
The investment from Finance Yorkshire follows a decade of hard work on the part of founders Paul Summerskill and his wife Claire.
They have already begun putting the investment to work by investing in new staff and new technologies. This month also sees the launch of a new website.
Finance Yorkshire introduced financial adviser and business strategist Margaret Ferris to the business to prepare forecasts and develop the financial accounting. Now she has joined Control House as a non-executive director.
Mr Summerskill said: “This investment is a fantastic 10th birthday present for the business and will open up so many opportunities for us.
“Our new staff will play a crucial role in growing the business strategically, working towards a higher volume of work, focusing on customer service and ultimately building the foundations for long-term success.”
Katharine Braim, Finance Yorkshire investment manager, said: “Control House is an established business with an excellent reputation in a niche market.
“It has positioned itself as flexible but competitive against other players in the sector, led by an experienced team who understand the operational and technical requirements of their customers.
“All of these factors, along with Control House’s story so far, made the business an ideal investment for our equity linked fund.”
Finance Yorkshire provides loans and equity linked investments ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help small and medium-sized businesses meet their funding requirements for growth and development.
The project is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted £30m investment from the European Regional Development Fund, £15m from UK Government and £45m match funding from the European Investment Bank.
