A specialist Ilkeston company has come through the Covid pandemic in a healthy state, taking increased orders which has meant moving to larger premises and hiring extra staff.
Family owned AB Components provides products which help stop harmful particles including those from viruses, bacteria, pollen and dust from getting into the environment - particularly important for those with allergies and breathing problems - or from causing damage to complicated and expensive machinery.
Company director James Edgar has been in the industry 30 years. He worked in the technical department of a filtration manufacturer in Nottingham before founding AB Components in 2006 and worked from home in Ilkeston while stock was held and despatched from a warehouse in Norwich.
In 2008 the company relocated its warehousing, sales and accounts to the Manners Industrial Estate, moving round the corner into larger premises in 2014. Earlier this Spring it moved again to a larger unit on the estate at Mercian Park, doubling unit space from 6,000 sq ft to more than 12,000 sq ft with purpose-built offices and conference facilities plus storage at a cost of £150,000.
The company had a turnover in the last financial year of £2.5m and now supplies its products around the world.
“While other companies were shutting or furlough staff because of the Covid restrictions we carried on with full working and actually grew,” said James. “This is because additional companies needed more filters for their businesses and ordered more supplies."
The firm has aims to take on more staff in the next quarter with further recruitment planned beyond that due to anticipation of further growth - a sign as to how well the local firm is operating.