ACE makes £1m investment to turbocharge sales

Advanced Chemical Etching, which offers 2D and 3D components, prototyping and volume manufacture, has just completed an expansion plan to more than double its Telford factory to over 20,000 sq ft. Established in 2000 by Alan Rollason and Chris Ball, the company said it expected the additional installation of two new large etching machine lines, plus measuring equipment, would help it build "on an influx of new orders" for parts used in aerospace, automotive, electronics, Formula 1, medical, heat exchanger and fuel cell technology. "This expansion plan has been a long time coming and has taken a massive effort from our 35-strong workforce to make it a reality," said Rollason, now chairman of the firm. "We now have an excellent platform and the right capacity to go after new work and there is plenty of that around as companies are increasingly looking for that complex component or alternative use of materials," he added.