WES is to expand its operations in the chemical dosing equipment hire market thanks to funding from The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

The company, based at Precision House, in Rankine Road, Basingstoke, has been experiencing a surge in demand from clients recently for temporary and emergency use of its self contained chemical dosing systems.

As a result, plans are now underway to increase the number and range of equipment the company has available for clients.

It is hoped WES’s growth plans will lead to the creation for four new engineering jobs.

Clients include blue chip companies across a number of different industries, including Thames Water, Wessex Water and South West Water, industrial customers such as EDF Energy, Glaxo, Nalco and BP, as well as contractors such as Black and Veatch and GTM.

The Environment Agency and The Ministry of Defence are also clients.

RBS has provided the company with overdraft and loan facilities to assist with the in-house manufacture of new machinery and equipment.

RBS and WES have also worked closely alongside Lombard to help with the growth of their hire equipment range.

Commenting on the recent increase in demand for self contained chemical dosing systems, WES managing director Kevin Wheeler, said: “These systems tend to be for temporary or emergency use and offer clients the advantage of secure, safe, portable and flexible chemical dosing without the need for large civil structures and bunds for tank storage.

“As a result of this increase in demand, we have taken the decision to expand our hire division. It is clearly the right time, the demand is there and we want to be able to continue to provide our clients with the same level of service that they have experienced for the last 25 years.

“Thanks to the support we have received from RBS we are able to pursue this area of growth and manufacture new machinery and equipment to enable us to meet demand. “Without it, we would have been much more restricted in increasing the range of equipment available - limited by the rate at which our profitability and cashflow increase - and would have missed out on this extremely profitable opportunity.”

Simon Finch, Relationship Manager at RBS in Basingstoke, added: “WES is a longstanding client of RBS and their business has gone from strength to strength over recent years. With working closely with them I have been able to understand their needs and worked together on their strategy to help achieve their growth ambitions. The prospect for us to help WES expand their hire division is one that we are all excited to be involved with, and I know they will make a great success of this new opportunity. We wish them all the best in this and look forward to a continued close working relationship with them.”