A MANUFACTURING company which makes ratchet tensioners for heavy goods vehicles has secured a foothold in Europe with a £25,000 contract win.

Langver has won an order from Spanish logistics company Guillen in a deal which is set to boost the firm’s presence in a potentially lucrative European market.

Thirsk-based Langver, which distributes its products to 90 per cent of the UK market, will supply around 800 ratchet tensioners to Guillen in two phases.

Bosses at Langver have described the deal as a “major breakthrough”, after investing more than £200,000 in state of the art machinery to enable it to expand into the vast European market.

Managing director Scott Taylor said: “Our reputation in the UK is second to none, however the European market is a much harder nut to crack so winning this work with Guillen is a significant boost for us.

“It gives us an important foothold on the continent which we hope will be the perfect platform to us winning more work across Europe.

“Guillen are a long-established logistics firm with a huge fleet of vehicles operating in a number of companies so the potential of this contract to lead to further work is massive for us.

“We’ve invested heavily in recent months to ensure we’re as competitive and efficient as we can be, and already that investment is paying off.”

Langver, which was the subject of a management buy-out led by Mr Taylor and his business partner Claire Matten in 2005, has expanded into a second unit on Thirsk Industrial Park to house its assembly, packing and distribution of goods.

In the existing unit, the company will continue to design and manufacture their products.

The company, which was founded in 1971, last year won the Small Business of the Year title at The Press Business Awards.

In the last two years it has seen staff numbers double to a current workforce of 26, alongside simultaneously increasing turnover to £2.6 million. Design, engineering and manufacture takes place in Thirsk.