Telford-based Advanced Chemical Etching (ACE) (ace-uk.net), a precision metal specialist, is setting its sights on international expansion after boosting its export sales by 10% in the first seven months of 2017.

The company, which employs 50 people at its ‘state of the art’ facility, has secured three large projects in aerospace, communications and the medical sector, taking overseas trade to 38% of its £5 million turnover.

This comes after the company embarked on a continuous-improvement drive that has boosted on-time delivery and ‘right first time’ performance.

ACE managing director Ian Whateley said: “Our export activity has been steadily growing since 2010, but the last seven months have definitely seen a spike that we’re hoping to sustain.

“A lot of the projects we are winning are extremely technical, and not many firms around the world can deliver the complexity of components that our customers require.

“Interest has come from all over the world, including Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Thailand.”

ACE’s output can include anything from safety-critical components for aircraft and cars to simple washers, electronic connectors and ornate clock faces. At its 25,000ft² facility in Telford, the company can use stainless steel, nickel alloys, copper, beryllium copper, phosphor bronze, brass and — thanks to ground-breaking new processes — aluminium, titanium, molybdenum, Nitinol and Elgiloy.

The company, which is working towards the AS9100 aerospace quality standard, has made a number of appointments to cope with its recent expansion, including a new technical sales specialist and abusiness development expert.