Murus Building Systems Ltd is on course to hit a £2.5m turnover in its first year of production.

The company says it has captured business worth £1.1m since opening its 30,000ft[sup]2[/sup] factory near Cardiff in January, with an affordable housing contract valued at nearly £1m currently being discussed with a volume housebuilder.

Managing director David Bateman said: “There is certainly business to be had there in timber frame. We are doing a mixture of timber frame housing for developers and some very energy efficient homes for housing associations.”

Mr Bateman, former chairman of Northumberland-based Timber Frame Solutions, said Murus had also taken a 25% shareholding in new company European Sustainable Construction BV, based near Amsterdam, to expand the use of the Murus single-skin zero-heat system into Europe.

He said the system, comprising I-beams instead of solid studs, was creating interest in Belgium, Holland, Germany and Scandinavia, with further opportunities in Russia.

&#8220There is certainly business to be had in timber frame. We are doing timber frame housing for developers and some very energy efficient homes for housing associations”

Murus managing director David Bateman

Initially, the plan was for the system to be manufactured in Wales and exported. But with a potential for 8,000-12,000 houses in Europe annually, Mr Bateman said a production facility in Europe could be a possibility.

He said the factory in Caerphilly, set up with help from a £150,000 Welsh Assembly grant, had the capacity to manufacture 1,000 units per year and 18,000 roof trusses but an option on an adjoining 20,000ft[sup]2[/sup] facility would allow the company to expand.

Mr Bateman believed a current contract in Woking, Surrey, was the first UK installation of ground level timber floor cassettes.