Accu, a Honley-based supplier of high-precision components to engineers and manufacturers, has set out plans to grow its workforce by 40% this year to 120, with six apprenticeships now being advertised.
Founded in 2012 by Martin Ackroyd and Antony Kitson, Accu may be based in Honley, but it has shaken up the traditional engineering industry worldwide.
With customers in over 125 countries, it has revolutionised the process of buying components with an online store. Its platform is also capable of looking at the order books of their clients and automatically triggering orders for parts, removing the need for purchasing departments to spend hours placing orders.
Its approach is paying off; Accu increased turnover to £8.4m in 2021 – a 44% increase on 2020, and further growth is expected in 2022. Accu will take on 40 further people by the end of the year – eight of which will be young, local apprentices.
Currently, the six apprenticeships being recruited for are in engineering, customer satisfaction, customer development, new products and accounts. Earlier this month, Accu visited Kirklees College as part of National Apprenticeship Week, to champion engineering as a sector.
Martin Ackroyd, commercial director at Accu, said: “The current government’s plans for investing in future generations by incentivising businesses to offer more apprenticeships really aligned with our goals of upskilling people from the local area.
“Bringing young people in early on in their careers allows us to get them familiar with us as a business, our products and our processes.
“One of the things that I really like is that we’re also seeing a trend of families working together at Accu, from apprentices to managers, which is really nice to see and adds to the close-knit community feeling within our teams.”
Antony Kitson, technical director, added: “Working with us at Accu promises a career in a fast-growing company, utilising the latest technology and approaches to business. We will promote and assist further growth and diversification of their chosen and preferred career paths.
“We’re always looking at how we can adapt and grow as a business and providing hands-on experience to young apprentices compliments our mission.”
The future is incredibly bright for Accu, with a wealth of opportunities, from plans to open further global locations, to tap into the increasing number of manufacturers who adopt Industry 4.0.
