Two businessmen are celebrating after increasing turnover at their plastics firm from nothing to £600,000 in their 12 months.

Ged Millward and Giles Pickles turned their backs on secure well-paid jobs to invest their savings in an injection moulding firm.

And the move has paid off with Zeta Plastic Components heading towards a £1 million turnover figure.

The two friends used to chat about owning their own business during coffee breaks at their previous employers. Now they own the company, based in Liversedge, and have built up a 30-strong workforce and invested more than £200,000 in equipment. Mr Millward said: "We both live and breathe injection moulding, which is as well, because when we started we were literally working round the clock seven days a week.

"It was three months before we started to take Sundays off."

The firm has been helped with a range of free services from Barclays. The bank's small business manager Iwan Williams said today: "The amount of effort, dedication and business skill they have put into running the business has been phenomenal."

The company's success has also helped win national acclaim for their personal business adviser John Warburton of Business Link Calderdale and Kirklees.

Mr Millward was so grateful for Mr Warburton's help that he nominated him for the Barclays Building Better Business Awards and he won the national title for the Best Business Link Advisor for a Newly Established business plus a cheque for £7,500.

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