A DROITWICH automotive firm has been celebrating the success of its recent expansion by opening its doors to a group of high-profile business leaders.

A delegation from the regional development agency Advantage West Midlands' Accelerate programme visited Barton Cold-Form to see what impact investment had had.

Accelerate is a programme established in 1996 to promote automotive business in the West Midlands.

It has assisted more than 1,000 companies in implementing best practice manufacturing systems, securing production efficiencies and cultivating workforce development.

Barton Cold-Form has invested £1.7m recently into its training drive and the purchase of a new warehouse, fully automated CNC secondary operation facilities and Britain's only fully CNC controlled multi-die heading machine.

The firm, which underwent a management buy-out four years ago, is expected to smash the £7m turnover barrier for the first time in its history this year.

"The buy-out gave us the perfect opportunity to review where we were going as a company. It didn't take long to realise that our traditional expertise could be supplemented by a range of manufacturing improvements and the introduction of new technology," said managing director Paul Denning.

"With this in mind, we enlisted the support of Accelerate and have subsequently completed six Supply Chain Improvement Projects and received financial support for training and state-of-the-art machines.

"This customer-driven approach has given us the impetus to move to the forefront of specialised metal and alloy components supply. We have eliminated waste, improved workflow and generated a growing order book."

Accelerate offers financial assistance towards development, capital equipment, collaborative supplier network, management and workforce development, specialist centres and supply chain improvement programmes.