"Every day you turn on the radio and there is bad news. It's almost like commentators and experts are talking us into a recession – they don't seem to be interested in the positive."

Which probably accounts for the fact that Mick and co-founder Phil Abbott's company Radical Sportscars has stayed pretty much under the radar when it comes to media attention. That is, except for ET Business (see July 15, 2008).

Radical is a success story, producing about 150 hand-built sports racing cars each year, primarily to order, and with 80 per cent of them destined for the export market.

And during my brief visit to the factory, based in Ivatt Way Business Park, Westwood, Peterborough, there was plenty of activity.

A Radical Sportscars transporter was being loaded with race cars for the Radical meeting at Donington at the weekend, and an Australian customer was on site to see the final stages of build of not one, but two, of his Radical cars. And one of these cars was a top-end £100,000 SR8 model.

"The global move is reaping its rewards with new markets, such as China and the Middle East, adding to countries such as USA and Australia. More people are discovering the joys of owning a Radical," said Mick.

Foreign sales are said to be "on the up" while at home they are "flat."

"With the help of ever-increasing high- quality distributors around the world, we have made our own niche in the market," said Mick.

All the cars are hand-built and everything is manufactured in-house, including engines, chassis, suspension and bodywork. Only a small percentage of the car, including the wheels, which are made in China, are sourced outside Peterborough. The Ivatt Way factory is spread over several units, a far cry from the single unit occupied by workers when Radical first moved into Westwood about six years ago.

In the fabrication area, for example, the chassis are built and assembled, the wings built, and sent out to be powder-coated by a local firm.

Radical subsidiary firm Powertec designs and builds its own V8 engine in-house, and tests it on a rolling road.

"It's a proper racing engine, just like those used in F1 and Le Mans," said Mick.

"All machining is done on site – the recent acquisition of a new line borer has resulted in greater component build accuracy."

The star attraction of many Radical cars in the main production area is the top-of-the-range £100,000 SR8 LM (named after the company's Le Mans car). It's described as offering "Le Mans technology for the club racer."

The two-seater sportscar, a lightweight construction tipping the scales at a mere 650kg, has a carbon fibre body, distinctively stylish looks, and sophisticated aerodynamics.