Firm on road to recovery

A DUNDEE turbine components firm has made a “significant recover y” after almost being brought to its knees by reductions in a major contract.

A e r o s p a c e To o l i n g Limited on Baldovie Industrial Estate suffered a £1.2 million pre-tax loss in the year to June 30.

The main reason for the downturn — which saw the company make a number of redundancies and move to a shorter working week — was a reduction in orders arising from the RAF’s Tornado jet decommissioning programme.

Chief executive Kerr Picken said the company had been through a challenging period but it was now making progress.

“The company has made a significant recovery and now looks forward to an increasingly bright future,” he said.

“The management team at ATL has certainly risen to the challenge of turning the business around and has made excellent progress on a number of fronts.”

He added: “It is particularly pleasing t o have returned to full-time working.”

As reported in last week’s Tele, Zoe Doogan, two, suffers from Cystic Fibrosis.

The life-shortening condition leads sufferers to experience a build-up of thick, sticky mucus in their lungs, digestive system and other organs, causing a wide range of physical challenges.

Zoe’s family, including mum Elaine and dad Daniel, has been fundraising to send Zoe on the “trip of a lifetime” to Orlando, and family friend John Brown, 35, a mental health nurse from Broughty Ferry, is set to take part in a 10k run in Edinburgh on May 27.

John, who lost a kidney after a battle with cancer, set up a JustGiving page with his partner Michael Johnston, targeted with raising £4,000.

On Friday, a donation of £1,809 was made to the page, pushing the fundraising total to £4,000.

Andrew Gibb, who is also going to be “flying the flag” for both Zoe and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on his next fundraising endeavour — the Three Peaks Challenge — made the donation out of his own pocket.

Andrew, 38, from Broughty Ferry, had already planned to take part in the challenge between July 28 and 30 — climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in three days, for the physiotherapy and burns unit at Ninewells Hospital, who looked after him after a horror leg break in 2000.

Andrew has now decided to champion Zoe’s cause on the walk as well, with T-shirts and flags being made up to raise awareness of her condition.

He said: “I saw the story in the Tele

A DUNDEE toddler battling a life-threatening condition is to go on a dream trip to Disney World after a stranger donated his £1,800 work bonus.