Sussex manufacturer, Cash Bases, of Newhaven, has been named the best small factory in the UK.

The title is sponsored by Management Today, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Confederation of British Industry and the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union.

It was won against stiff competition from industrial giants including Marconi Systems, Fujifilm, 3M UK, Dairy Crest and Nestle Rowntree.

Due to the worldwide economic slowdown, this year has been particularly hard for manufacturers such as Cash Bases, which exports more than 70 per cent of its output. But the award demonstrates the firm's outstanding performance and its management systems.

Cash Bases was also awarded the accolade of most improved factory, resulting from a number of changes made in the last three to four years.

Manufacturing director Michael David said: "When Cash Bases underwent a management buyout in 1997, productivity was low, customer delivery dates were regularly missed and few systematic-build procedures were followed.

"The manufacturing plan was more of a wish list, where jobs would regularly jump the queue in order to boost output and satisfy erratic demands, often at the expense of meeting delivery promises.

"Late deliveries are now a rare occurrence, the number of end-of-line rejects has been cut from seven to one per cent and customer complaints have been reduced by two- thirds. Productivity has dramatically improved."

A move to new premises two years ago was completed over a six-week period. This provided an opportunity to improve work-flow and redesign the factory's processes.

Mr David said: "During the move, we did not lose a single unit of production, a result of the careful planning and the hard work of the dedicated staff involved.

"Since then, we have gone from strength to strength."

The company is a previous winner of Sussex Company of the Year, Sussex Exporter of the Year and the Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The company's roots go back to Gross, a huge manufacturer of cash registers based on the Hollingbury Industrial Estate in Brighton.

It had a workforce of more than 2,500.

The managing director is Hugh Burnett, who founded the company in 1981.

It makes cash drawers for the retail, banking and hospitality sectors.

Cash Bases' products are used by seven of the ten leading European retailers, such as Carrefour, Le Clerc, Tesco and Sainsbury's.