Amerex Fire International Ltd has acquired a new site at Springvale Industrial Estate, Cwmbran with a £350,000 investment supported by Barclays.

Established in 1988, the business was bought by Steve Evans senior in 2000 and has now been passed onto Steve Evans junior, who took control of the business as managing director last year.

Amerex Fire International Ltd is a Welsh-based company currently employing 14 staff, providing high quality and innovative fire-fighting products for more than 40 years to the UK and overseas markets.

Steve Evans, managing director of Amerex Fire International Ltd, said: “We have exclusive distribution rights for the Amerex brand extinguishers and fire suppression systems for the UK, Europe and India. Buying the new unit is essential for our growth strategy and the funding package we agreed with Barclays meant that the repayments were less than our previous rental payments.”

Steve Massey, Barclays senior business manager, said: “As champions of local business, it is essential that we support local growing businesses such as Amerex Fire International Ltd. By really understanding the business and issues they have faced, Barclays has been able to support the business throughout its development. With 45 per cent of the business turnover export led and with a Royal Warrant from the Queen, the business is well positioned to tap into new markets and build on previous export success.”

Steve Evans said: “We continue to evolve and develop the extinguisher side of the business but we see real growth potential with the fire suppression systems. We now provide fire suppression systems for commercial kitchens and heavy vehicle plant, which is proving very successful. If you have a heavy plant vehicle which could cost anything up to £500,000, the last thing you want to see, is it go up in flames. Insurance company premiums are now also driving the installation of fire suppression systems in commercial kitchens, as businesses see both the commercial and safety value of our innovative and market leading fire suppression systems.”