ONE of the UK’s leading suppliers of race fuels and oils is investing £2.2million in new premises.

Anglo American Oil Company (AAOIL) has moved to a 1.35 acre site at Holton Heath.

It was founded by former racing driver Anders Hildebrand in 1999 and has grown into a business with an annual turnover of £3.7m, employing 14 people.

Its new premises include a 1,750sqm specialist warehouse and workshop with blending facility and tank farm, as well as a 200sqm office. The office brings together staff who previously worked from Mr Hildebrand’s converted garage at his home in Wareham and premises in Hungerford, Berkshire.

Managing director Mr Hildebrand said: "We are very pleased with the new site which will allow us to provide an even better service to our many customers across the UK and also Europe as well as further space to grow.”

AAOIL supplies 20 race fuels and has a customer base of more than 9,500 racers and high performance garages.

It represents Sunoco race fuels in Europe and the middle East, along with other high performance racing products, and distributes EcoPar, a biodegradable diesel made from natural gas, and Aspen alkylate petrol.

The company’s fuels are used at competitions such as the British GT, Formula 4 and the Mini Challenge.

Mr Hildebrand said: "We already supply more than a million litres of race fuel annually while sales of the environmentally friendly Aspen fuel have grown from 15,000 litres eight years ago to 330,000 litres currently.

"We expect this figure to increase to three million litres in the next four years but the potential market is 60 million litres. More and more people are joining the likes of the National Trust and the Forestry Commission in recognising the benefits of this clean fuel.”

Aspen is ethanol free and emits 99 per cent less toxic emissions compared with normal petrol, which suits it to hand-held machinery where operators are exposed to exhaust fumes.

The expansion used the services of Wareham-based Jade Aden Services Limited and accountants Princecroft Willis (PcW).

PcW director James Robinson said: "AAOIL's success has been driven by Anders and his wife, Eva, who looks after the finances and acts as company secretary.

"It's a great example of how passion, drive and sheer energy can create a dynamic and successful business. We're proud to be playing our part in that success.”