E3D Online reaches number 32 on 2021 Thames Valley SME 100 Growth 2021

The Business Magazine asked the CEOs and leaders of the Thames Valley SME 100 Growth listing, which celebrates the region’s high-growth small and medium-sized enterprises, to share their experience of managing a company in 2021. We asked David Lamb, the CEO of E3D Online, the following three questions:

• What were your toughest challenges over the past year?
• What were your biggest wins?
• What are your wildest ambitions for the coming year?"

The company, which specialises in designing extrusion systems for 3D printing, was listed among the top 50 companies, at number 32, on The Business Magazine’s Thames Valley SME100 Growth index. E3D Online, based in Oxford, had an overall growth of 28.2% and a turnover of 9.1%, which is 2% higher compared to last year.

What were your three toughest challenges over the past year?

David Lamb: There were several, among which learning to do manufacturing in house, managing supply issues caused by Brexit and COVID, second sourcing and bringing manufacturing closer to home were perhaps the most difficult. Not being able to go and see people was also difficult. When you make physical things, not being able to show off your products in their full glory makes it increasingly challenging to generate sales.

Your biggest win?

David Lamb: Having technical breakthroughs in quick-changing 3D printer nozzles, which are the future of 3D printing, was a big win for us. It's what the people want and we've been able to develop a new ecosystem of products during this past year and we're hoping to be the first company to bring these to market later in 2021. 

Your three wildest ambitions for the coming year?

David Lamb: Scaling up novel manufacturing techniques to deliver new product lines, systemising the company to transition from startup to Tier 1 manufacturing powerhouse and improving our customer experience by guaranteeing responsiveness, higher quality, and lower lead times.

E3D Online is included in the Thames Valley SME100 Growth index for the second consecutive year. To qualify for the listing, businesses need to be based in the Thames Valley, have a turnover of no less than £1 million and no more than £20m, and to have grown their turnover significantly in the past year.

The 2021 edition of the list is sponsored by law firm Herrington Carmichael, commercial property consultants Hicks Baker and corporate finance advisers Wilson Partners.

Supporting partners are Laithwaites and Lamborghini.

All Thames Valley SME 100 Growth members are now invited to enter the nominations to this year’s awards, which will recognise outstanding achievements in six categories.