A Wolverhampton tool firm has pumped £750,000 into an ambitious modernisation scheme it says will take it to the next level.
RM Group Services, which rents and sells construction, tool and plant equipment, says the investment will take sales past the £2.5 million mark and will bring 12 new jobs to the company.
The investment will be spent on new IT systems, a company-wide training programme and more vehicles for its hire fleet.
Commercial manager Adam Rowland said the move would help the firm win contracts from national competitors.
He said: "Over the past three years, we have enjoyed substantial year on year growth and this has been down to our ability to meet the requirements of our clients, whether that is through hiring new and quality plant or fulfilling site cover orders.
"We have decided to stay independent as that means we can stock the products our clients want and it also gives us the freedom to do things differently - the way we build partnerships with our customers being a particularly strong example."
The firm is also eyeing up sites for possible expansion to give it better regional coverage.
At the top of the list is the acquisition of two further depots in Walsall and Dudley which the company says would open up a 100,000-strong potential customer base and give it the volume of orders that it is looking for by the end of the year.
"We are currently looking for potential sites and when these plans come off we will have to more than double the size of the workforce to 24," said Mr Rowland.
"Our biggest driver has been the ease with which customers can come here and hire plant or tool and purchase whatever else they may need outright - regionally, there is simply nowhere else offering these group of services. I think one of our regulars summed it up best when he described us as the Tesco Express of the market."
RM - which celebrates its 25th anniversary tomorrow - has a site on Trysull Road, Wolverhampton, with a 50-strong fleet of diggers, dumpers and rollers for hire.
And in April it will be expanding with the launch of Toolfix Direct, a web-based branch of the business.
This will offer out-of-hours ordering and online savings, supplying a wide range of products for sale from woodscrews, silicones and personal protective equipment, to structural fixings, builders' metalwork and industry-leading hand and power tools.
Roy Tolley, who deals with sales and operations at RM, said: "Our client base is diverse and features local house builders, shop and kitchen fitters, landscape gardeners, electrical contractors and your everyday DIY expert."
