New Romford Location Allows Aerospace Company to Take Off

Farsound (www.farsound.co.uk) is a leading manufacturer, stockholder and distributor of aerospace precision components. The company was originally set up in 1979 by Roger Gulperin. Still owned by the Gulperin family, Farsound has a consistent record of growth and strong financial performance. The company has grown rapidly and has facilities in the UK and Far East. Farsound's existing site was going to be redeveloped and it had secured significant new contracts that could only be fulfilled from a larger premises. In May 2007 the company approached Gateway to London to help them find a solution.

Gateway to London's Role
Liaising closely with Farsound over the course of six months, Gateway to London carried out extensive property searches, giving the company a choice of locations. Having to work to a tight deadline, Gateway to London later identified the chosen site near Romford, Essex.

The site's proximity to the A12 and M25 were critical selling points for Farsound. Critically, Gateway to London ensured Farsound's change of use planning application for the site was successfully awarded within their timescale.

Outcome
In October 2007 Farsound secured the move from Chingford, to a 38,500 sq ft site in Ashton Road, Romford, enabling the company to expand its production capacity and enhance its warehousing and distribution facility. Farsound's larger site will provide them with the space required to continue their impressive growth of recent years. This means the internationally focused manufacturer will be able to step up and expand its service to clients, which include big names like Rolls-Royce and Airbus.

The facility, near Romford, will accommodate administration, engineering, procurement and sales staff. Farsound has retained all of its existing 80-strong team and plan to further increase their workforce, providing employment opportunities for engineers, CNC programmers, machinists, operators, inspectors and NDT level 1 operatives.

Mark Burrows, Operations Director, Farsound, said: "Our recruitment drive has already started and we are confident that we will find talented people right on our doorstep to assist in, and share, our continued success. We are also expanding our apprenticeship programme and Gateway to London has introduced us to the Centre for Engineering & Manufacturing Excellence (CEME) to assist us with business training and recruitment support."