Lifts firm seventh in export list

A MANUFACTURER of lifts which plug into domestic sockets has been featured in a new countdown of the nation’s fastest growing small firms that export.

Kingswinsford-based Stiltz Lifts is placed in seventh spot in the third annual Sunday Times Lloyds SME Export Track 100.

The report, published in full last weekend, ranks Britain’s smalland medium-sized (SME) enterprises with the fastest-growing international sales over the past two years.

Stiltz Lifts, which is the highestplaced of six West Midlands companies, has created a freestanding lift that plugs into domestic electric sockets.

They have been retrofitted into homes in more than 20 countries and strong sales in the US, Germany and France have helped it grow exports by 146 per cent a year to £3.2 million in 2016.

A total of nine businesses from across the Midlands – compared to 12 last year – feature in the list, including five new entrants.

The other West Midlands entrants are:

Special effects developer Simworx, based in Kingswinford, 39th place, annual international sales growth over two years of 62 per cent

Sports nutrition developer Grenade, Solihull, 40th, 61 per cent

Online activewear retailer Gymshark, Redditch, 41st, 61 per cent

IT consultancy REPL Group, Henley-In-Arden, 46th, 57 per cent

Contract engineering manufacturer Mec Com, Stafford, 79th, 39 per cent