Tanfield, the UK manufacturer of Snorkel aerial work platforms, has conditionally raised £12m from a share issue to alleviate production bottlenecks and reduce lead times.

After a hiatus in purchasing in recent years, access platform owners are now overdue for renewing their fleets. Suppressed demand is now surging. During the first half of 2011, Tanfield’s turnover rose 25% to £24.6m while the outstanding order book rose 170% to £20.9m. However, the company’s ability to meet orders is currently restricted by working capital constraints and supply chain bottlenecks.

Tanfield expects that reducing lead times will return the accounts to profit.

Chief executive Darren Kell said: “The additional working capital raised by this placing will help to alleviate the bottlenecks within our supply chain allowing us to increase throughput, reduce lead times for customers and generate purchasing efficiencies. As a result, we believe it should accelerate our return to profitability and help to cement our position as one of the leading global manufacturers in the aerial work platform industry.”

Tanfield is placing 29,268,293 new ordinary shares of 5p each at a price of 41p per share.

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