AVIATION and CCTV group Anglo Design (AD) Holdings saw losses widen to more than £5m as the downturn kept its grip on the UK economy.

The group, whose businesses include Dedicated Micros and Liverpool John Lennon Airport-based AD Aviation, reported sales for the year to June 2011 of £40.1m – down 26% on the previous year.

That meant losses at the Daresbury group widened from £179,000 to £5.4m. AD said: “The results for the year are considered by the directors to be directly linked to the downturn in the global market.”

But, in accounts newly filed at Companies House, AD Holdings said it was confident that new video technology it had developed would help it to grow again as the economy recovered.

AD also completed a refinancing in October, and its directors are planning to cut costs “to mitigate against any deterioration and uncertainties in trading conditions”.

Mike Newton, chief executive of AD Holdings, founded Dedicated Micros in 1982 by developing a CCTV device to monitor how long players spent at snooker tables.

The company was soon supplying equipment to watch the bar takings as well, which led to the development of the first multi-channel CCTV recorder in 1985.

In its directors’ report, AD says its latest “key innovation” is Closed IPTV (internet protocol television), a secure online network allowing clients to monitor and control CCTV systems via the internet.

It said: “Closed IPTV appeals to all aspects of the security market, as it meets the needs of entry-level ‘plug and play’ users to high-end ‘enterprise’ systems which require segregated secure video over IP networks.”

Private jet hire business AD Aviation itself saw turnover fall 7% to £1.1m. Its pre-tax losses widened from £408,000 to £837,000.

Its directors report said: “The results for the year and the financial position at the end of the year were considered satisfactory by the directors, despite the losses seen due to the downturn in the global charter market.”