A Eureka moment is typically symbolised by a lightbulb pinging on.

But in the case of the duo behind Barrowford-based ACDC, the illuminated lightbulb was literal.

Following a management buy-out in 2004, David Horsfield and Gareth Frankland now own the hugely successful company, designing and manufacturing specialist long life LED (Light Emitting Diode) and cold cathode lighting solutions.

Their high-profile clients include the Natural History Museum, the Bank of England, the Foreign Office, the Hilton Hotel in Jedda, the Beijing Olympics and the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai.

However, their first big job was the Trafford Centre in Manchester in 1998.

David said: “It was a make or break job as we had never done anything on that scale. In fact, it was our eureka moment when we realised that we could genuinely pull it off; that was a big turning point for us.

“It was a £1million contract but our turnover had only been £600,000 the year before. There was a penalty clause in the contract which said we had to pay £14,000 a day for every day we went over the deadline. We worked 16 hours a day, seven days a week for six months and, fortunately, managed to complete it on time. That really put us on the map.”

In recent years, the company has made huge strides in LED technology.

They launched 18 new products in 2001 that “took the world by storm” and recently returned from the biggest lighting exhibition in the world in Frankfurt, where they launched a product that will, according to Gareth, “revolutionise the industry”.

LED has traditionally been a decorative light source rather than task lighting. However, that’s about to change with the launch of Evolution – an LED architectural downlight which provides 50,000 hours of light at 20 watts, compared with 2,000 hours at 50 watts for a normal bulb.

“It’s a massive step forward,” says Gareth, 33, who joined the company straight from university. “We are the first people in the world to achieve this and we know we have really pushed the boundaries. We have had an unbelievable response. We feel like we are on the verge of something big.”

The company introduced a new management structure 18 months ago and is forecasting a turnover of £4million this year, growing to £8million over the next four years.

With plans to re-locate to bigger premises in Barrowford, the future is looking extremely bright for ACDC.