Acorn, based at Steeton near Keighley, reported £224.4m in revenue for the year ended September 30 2018, a six percent increase on the £211.7m it generated the previous year.

During the same period, the firm’s operating profit (excluding exceptional costs) rose from just below £22m to a new high of £22.2m.

Export sales account for 71 per cent of Acorn’s global income, with 85 per cent of its revenues coming from the UK or non-EU territories.

The company – established as a one-man operation in Bradford in 1992 – now has a global workforce of 1,536, an increase of 51 from the previous year, with over 500 people working at or from its headquarters and factory in Yorkshire.

Acorn’s group finance director Joanne Richardson said: “This is another encouraging set of annual figures which reflect Acorn’s commitment to building sustainable growth in both our domestic and export markets.

“Acorn continues to experience record-breaking worldwide sales, supported by our rising company headcount.”

The firm exports to around 80 countries and has wholly-owned subsidiary companies in Germany, Italy, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and in its largest overseas territory, North America, where it is market leader for home stairlifts.