Photograph: (Left to Right) Olly Marshall of ProSpeed and Alan Sanderson of Reward Finance Group
York-based specialist automotive engineers, ProSpeed, is to create six new jobs and plans are now in place to double the size of the 15-strong workforce over the next 12 months.
It follows a huge increase in orders from across Europe as its reputation for bespoke Land Rover Discovery accessories and specially designed six-wheel Hi-Lux chassis for emergency vehicles grows.
To help fulfil the orders, ProSpeed has arranged a £200k working capital injection from Reward Finance Group.
Founder Olly Marshall started the business at 21 in 2003 repairing rally cars. This quickly evolved into him building and selling them; providing support at races; and eventually racing them.
This specialist knowledge and expertise saw Olly spot an opportunity to build a better range of off-road accessories for Land Rover Discoveries, such as low-profile roof racks and underbody protection. Having launched this new service 2010, demand for the bespoke products grew fast, resulting in ProSpeed significantly expanding its manufacturing capacity, product range and global distribution network.
The company’s bespoke activity is not limited to Land Rovers. In 2016 they converted four panel vans to replace articulated lorries with a more cost-effective and compact option for live broadcasts, at a cost of £1.4m each.
They have also designed, developed, and manufactured ten, six-wheel Hi-Lux chassis, from concept to solution, for vehicles such as military ambulances, cherry pickers, fire and rescue vehicles, which were successfully delivered in 2020. On the back of this orders have been received from customers in the UK, Poland, and the Czech Republic for 14 more fire engines for delivery this year and 25 more in 2022.
Speaking about the last 12 months, Olly Marshall, said,
“With all that has been happening, we count ourselves to be very lucky. We have some great opportunities on the horizon with the 6×6 vehicles, the Discovery accessories, and some other spin-off projects that have come about from our growing reputation, including electric vehicles.
“We are thankful to Reward for providing the financial support to allow us to commit to these opportunities. It has been refreshing to work with Alan Sanderson and the Reward team, as it is banking how it used to be, which is the approach a company like us needs to be able to grow.
“We are small but very innovative and enjoy a fantastic global reach into the special vehicles industry. To be able to discuss our future and opportunities face-to-face with someone who can ‘look into the whites of your eyes’ and make a real life, informed judgement has meant we have been able to propel ourselves further than we otherwise would have had the ability to do.”
Senior Relationship Manager at Reward Finance Group, Alan Sanderson, added,
“This is a truly inspirational success story. What started as a hobby for Olly has developed into a world-beating company staffed by a team of innovative and highly skilled automotive engineers.
“When Reward was introduced to the company by Craig Simpson at Real Commercial Finance, we met with Olly and we were very impressed with the structure, business plan, and the fact that orders are flooding in due to ProSpeed’s growing reputation for producing top quality products.
“We therefore had no hesitation in providing the business finance to enable the company to continue expand and meet its growing order book.”