A CLACKMANNANSHIRE-BASED manufacturer is gearing up to take advantage of growing demand for electric cars as it prepares to move into bigger premises.
The company, 123v, intends to road test its innovative solar power canopies when it moves into its new, 5,000 square foot headquarters in Tillicoultry on Friday, following a £250,000 investment. The canopies are designed to allow drivers to generate electricity for their cars in their garages.
Tillicoultry-bound 123v makes the switch 20 years after the company, which manufactures car doors, glass verandas and canopies, was launched by Robin and Jayne Marlin.
The husband and wife hope the development of the solar power canopies, which have been given the product name PolySolar, will allow the company to lift turnover beyond £2 million from £1.8m. And the firm declared that the expanded capacity of its new premises would assist with moves to break into the export arena, identifying Spain, France and America as target markets.
The company, which employs 30 staff, has been helped with its expansion plans by advice from Business Gateway Clackmannanshire.
Mr Marlin, chairman and technical director, said: “Our new premises will cement our reputation as one of Scotland’s leading manufacturing businesses, one which has grown over the past 20 years because it has adapted and evolved its offering.
“With interest in electric cars and generating and storing your own electricity increasing, we’ve developed a solar powered door canopy and car port with tinted glass and in-built solar panels that will generate electricity.
“This is where Business Gateway’s help has been fundamental, as its connections led us to PolySolar who will now help us gauge just how much power these products can produce.”
Mr Marlin, a one-time double glazing salesman, and his wife set up the company after he spotted a gap in the market to sell cantilever car ports around Scotland, establishing a small fibre glass factory in the village of Coalsnaughton. But it wasn’t until he completed an HND in civil and structural engineering at Falkirk College in 2001 that the business began to take off.
Mr Marlin noted that online sales now account for 90 per cent of revenue, having generated just five per cent in 2001. He hopes that, with advice from Business Gateway, the company can break into Spain, France and America “where there is huge potential”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here