What kind of growth do you aspire to in the next few years?

Cornelius will be looking for organic growth of at least 15% per annum, which is aligned with our year-on-year achievements over the past three years. The growth in the market, alongside the potential to attract new principals, makes this a very reasonable aspiration. This may be increased by potential new investments during that period, expanding our presence in new countries, and expanding product and service portfolios.

In which sectors, markets or regions do you see significant growth opportunities?

Cornelius will continue to focus on its core sectors of industrial, personal care, health and food, and medical devices, and we certainly see further opportunity in those sectors. We continue to see exciting opportunities in Europe for market penetration, particularly as the region looks toward a general improvement in economies. The revitalization of the industry in the USA, on the back of cheap energy and a global economy that is in recovery mode, will make it an exciting region over the coming period, whilst the emerging markets in Asia, Africa and South America will continue to fuel a growing world market. Our traditional industrial business will see growth linked to expanding GDPs, whilst life-science-related industries will offer potential for enhanced growth as people look to added value in the food industry and innovative products in the personal-care sector.

How do you intend to implement these plans and seize these opportunities?

In Europe, we will continue to build on our existing operations in the U.K., France, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and Russia. In particular, we see huge opportunities to leverage our technical skills and supply-chain knowledge to service multinational businesses transnationally, as well as the smaller national players. We will continue to consider options to expand our presence in the European region, through both distribution channels and "added value" operations. The possibility to expand into the USA will be linked to the effectiveness of our sourcing offices in the emerging markets, to be able to create a compelling offer, but we perceive a real opening exists for companies such as Cornelius. We already supply into the U.S. medical device industry, which will act as a platform for any U.S. expansion.

Success in this industry relies on having good people, innovative ideas and an excellent service, all things that Cornelius has, and will continue to build upon. Customers look more and more to their top suppliers to bolster their own innovation, and we do and will continue to look at how our portfolio can help our customers to enhance their own business, and alongside that, ours.