A HAMPSHIRE-BASED manufacturer of specialist protective clothing for motorcyclists, is aiming to triple global sales in the next year after securing new financial backing.

Covec, which produces the Bull-It range, has received investment from the Clydesdale Bank.

The Bull-It range, which includes jeans and jackets, is made of al textile created by Covec using fibres used in Nasa’s Mars Rover expeditions, which are designed to withstand the abrasion and heat created when motorcyclists fall from their bikes.

Annual sales stand at £1.2 million but the Covec management team anticipates they will rise to £3 million by the end of year.

The deal for Covec is the first from Clydesdale Bank’s Emerging Technology Unit – a team created at the end of last year to support high growth technology businesses.

Clydesdale’s funding will help Covec to invest in increased stock levels to meet growing demand, and develop new products including personal protective equipment (PPE) for workers in hazardous environments.

Bull-It clothing incorporates a thermotropic liquid crystal polymer and Covec is the only company in the world which applies the same technology to high performance clothing. The firm developed a weave and production processes which allow it to be cut and dyed.

The company, which is based in Swanwick, exports to more than 25 countries within Australia, the United StatesUSA, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa its biggest markets.

Covec was established in 2011 by former speedway rider Keith Bloxsome.

So far Covec has raised £1 million in external investment for research and development and to secure the intellectual property for the Bull-It range.

Keith said: “We believe the properties of this material far outstrip other products on the market, and we expect demand to keep growing.

"Competing materials, such as aramids, tend to have a limited shelf life and are affected by wearing. Covec is an evergreen product.”