£1m sales milestone for Calnex Solutions

AN INDEPENDENT Scottish telecommunications company has received £1 million of orders in one quarter for the first time since being set up in 2006.

Linlithgow-based Calnex Solutions provides testing solutions for the emerging telecoms technology with a focus on export markets, primarily North America, Europe and Asia. Its customers include big telecoms brands such as Nokia, Orange, Siemens and Cisco.

However, unlike many domestic technology firms, Calnex manufactures all its products in Scotland, at Kelvinside Electronics in Kilsyth.

Tommy Cook, chief executive of Calnex, said orders will be up 200 per cent against the firm's target for the final quarter of last year.

He said: "We're ahead of target in every region, so it's a steady increase that's collectively creating the great total growth."

Calnex has boosted its order book by expanding its sales team, including the hiring of executives in the US and Hong Kong and widening its product range.

Recently, business has picked up in Europe, which was slower at the start of the year compared with North America and Asia.

Cook said that Calnex is increasingly becoming a global market player, with exports now making up about 95 per cent of its business. Cook added that Calnex's products are sold to engineering teams at the start of the product development cycle. He said its customers can achieve a competitive advantage by being first with new technology. He said the take-up of new mobile phone technologies, such as the iPhone and BlackBerry, is driving the industry to make changes to the network required to deliver these services cost effectively.

"The growth across all regions is a very positive sign that we can continue our business success through 2010," he said.

"Coupled with the products launched this quarter and two new products we will introduce in the first part of 2010, we are hopeful Calnex can continue to head strongly in the right direction."