AN electrical wiring manufacturer has doubled its turnover in less than a year - with help from a new business service.

Bolton-based Assembly Solutions expanded last August when it acquired Golborne-based Quality Wiring Services, which had gone into liquidation.

Since then, the company has has recorded an annual turnover of £1.25 million.

And Assembly Solutions managing director Graham Balshaw said much of its success was down to support, help and advice from ChamberLink - a merger of Chamber Business Enterprises and Business Link North Manchester.

ChamberLink advisor Ian Palmer has helped the company tap into funding, grants and specialist advice on IT and marketing.

Mr Balshaw said: "Ian and I get on very well. He's been a great sounding board for me and a good source of advice.

"He has helped us with the big things, like putting a marketing strategy in place. He is also on hand on a day-to-day basis offering hints and tips.

"He's been a managing director himself, so he understands the pressures that I face. He has played a big part in helping the business to improve and grow.

"He's also taken some of the legwork out of finding the right partners for the training and accreditation we needed to stay one step ahead."

And ChamberLink's new chief executive, Mike Ashton, wanted to be the first to congratulate the company - based at Gilnow Mill, Spa Road - on its rapid growth and its new contract to supply British Turntable, also based in Bolton.

Mr Ashton said: "Assembly Solutions is a real success story and it gives me a real kick to know that we have played a part in that."

Mr Balshaw started Assembly Solutions with his wife, Ann, in 1995 to provide complete wiring frameworks, assemblies, harnesses, coils and control panels for the automotive industry including buses, trucks and ambulances.

Following last year's takeover, the company now employs 50 people at three workshops.