STAFF at a Wrexham firm are keeping their fingers crossed for a hat-trick of Olympic gold medals.

The workforce at chartered accountants Coxeys will be keeping a close eye on the progress of two of their clients in China.

Rower Tom James, 24, is competing in the men’s four and should be among the top medal contenders.

The Coedpoeth man will be attempting to defend the title won many times by rowing legends Sir Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent.

Coxeys also has high hopes for another of their clients.

Nomad Composite Designs, in Llangollen, made the kayaks being paddled by two of the favourites for gold.

The company sponsor Campbell Walsh who’s on the GB team, and Stepanka Hilgertova, from the Czech Republic.

Both won golds at the last European Championships and, as the world’s best paddlers are European, they are hot tips for Beijing - Campbell in the men’s K1 class and Hilgertova in the women’s K1.

In addition, competitors from Chile, China and Nigeria are also using Nomad kayaks.

Director Morag Browning said everybody at Coxeys was proud two of their clients were involved in the Olympics.

She said: “It is a fantastic spectacle anyway but having such strong representation from this small corner of North East Wales is fabulous.

“We will be keeping our fingers crossed they can win a hat-trick of gold medals. But, whatever happens, we are delighted Tom and Nomad have been given the opportunity to make their mark on the world stage.

“All their success is down to their own talent and determination – our role is to take care of the books.”

The Nomad kayaks are made on the banks of the Dee, which is one of the best rivers in Britain for kayaking.

Spokesman Jim McConnachie says it was a lucky break that the sport’s ruling body decided the length of competition kayaks should be reduced from four metres to 3.5 metres around the time the company was formed four years ago.

He said: “From the outset, our boats probably outperformed everyone else’s because we’d started with 3.5 metre boats - everyone else started by chopping four metre boats down.

“We’ve just gone on and, 20 odd designs later, we’re actually winning World Cup races and this year we had both male and female golds at the European Championships.

“We make very light, very stiff boats and they perform faster than anyone else. They carry speed through turns and they’re very responsive. We get a lot of enquiries from overseas and we get a lot of people coming to us simply because we build the boats their heroes paddle.

“I would say Campbell and Stepanka both have a good chance in Beijing because the top paddlers are European. Stepanka is going for her third Olympic gold and the European Championships was Campbell’s breakthrough.

“He’s got ultimate confidence in himself and that’s what wins races at the end of the day.”