A FAMILY stone products business has steered its way to success thanks to professional advice from chartered accountants Keith Robinson and Co.

Brand Pre-cast, of Middlesbrough, which produces commercial and domestic floor slabs and artificial stone products, found itself unable to develop the business because of a lack of funding.

Then Brand's managing director, Tim Brand, was introduced to Keith Robinson, senior partner at Darlington's Keith Robinson and Co.

They worked together to produce forecasts of the company's future trading potential, which enabled funds to be raised to allow the company to invest in new equipment. Since then, the annual turnover of the company has increased to £3.5m.

Mr Brand said: "Anyone with their own business will know the pressure there is on the managing director to make the right decisions and to ensure the business makes a good profit.

"By seeking professional financial and business advice, I found that I could discuss the pros and cons with someone else and receive an unbiased point of view."

Keith Robinson said: "As in many businesses, the decision-making process is based largely on gut instinct.

"We helped Brand to produce reliable management information every month, which, in turn, enabled the company to forecast and plan for the future.

"This logical and disciplined approach has not only allowed Brand to obtain the funding it needs to get where it wants to be, but has empowered its management to ensure it gets there."