Calnex quest for £5m targets India and US

TELECOMS equipment maker Calnex has unveiled plans to grow sales by 40 per cent next year by setting up sales offices in India and the United States, pushing turnover through the £5 million barrier.

The Linlithgow-based firm, which was last week heralded as an example of a high-growth business by Scottish Enterprise chief executive Lena Wilson, wants to increase the size of its engineering team by around half to 27 people.

Calnex makes equipment for testing mobile phone networks. All of its devices are made in Scotland for export.

The firm has sales offices in China and the Far East and is now targeting other fast-growing emerging economies, such as the giant Indian market.

Its operations in the US will also be expanded, with the opening of an east coast office and the recruitment of a sales specialist in California for the west coast market.

Tommy Cook, Calnex’s founder and chief executive, said: “We aimed to turn over £3m this year and we’re going to beat that with £4m.

“We’ve applied for a research and development grant from Scottish Enterprise to help speed up the rate at which we can hire engineers. We’re committed to this expansion, which we’re funding out of the company’s profits, but a grant would help us to speed up the process.”

About 30 of the company’s 35 staff are based in Linlithgow, with the rest spread across sales operations around the world.

Cook said the company remained committed to keeping the production of its equipment in Scotland, with the devices currently being built by Kelvinside Electronics in Kilsyth.

Scottish Enterprise last week hailed Calnex’s export success as the agency unveiled its five-year plan.