BUSINESS LIFE: Group hits on a winning concept.

COVENTRY'S status as a driving force in automotive innovation has been boosted with the ongoing success of a city design and prototype engineering specialist.

Concept Group, which employs 60 people at two sites in the city, has gained support from Accelerate to invest pounds 650,000 in two state-of-the- art clay model cutting machines.

The new equipment gives the company the opportunity to digitally measure, mill and scan, reducing lead times and a major selling point in securing a recent multi-million pound global automotive deal.

Joe Molloy, managing director, said: "What used to be a time-consuming process that took weeks is now completed in just a few days, a production efficiency few people in the world can boast."

Concept Group uses state-of-the-art technology in its digital studio to take a product from initial plans, right through to completion and has been significantly involved in recent concept cars, including the Cadillac CIEN, Jaguar RD6 and NissanQASHQAI, launched at the Geneva Motor Show.

Mr Molloy said: "The recent global contract is a major boost to our expansion plans and should result in turnover rising past the pounds 3million level to nearly pounds 5million by the end of 2005."

CAPTION(S):

DEAL: From left, Harry Balmer (Accelerate) and Joe Molloy and Steve Murphy, both of Concept Group