Dundee firm sets out plans to quadruple annual sales

● Ambitious goal comes after joining SIG programme ● Move could also result in creation of scores of new jobs

A Tayside turbine component repair specialist is targeting a quadrupling of sales to £20 million after joining a government-backed national productivity programme.

ATL was selected for Sharing in Growth (SIG), which supports aerospace supply chain companies to be more competitive, after completing a 12-week programme to determine readiness to compete for a larger slice of the £4 billion UK aero engine maintenance market.

With support from SIG, the 30-year-old Dundee business plans to secure annual sales of about £20m by 2022 thanks to improved operational and shopfloor efficiency, investment in recruitment and training and an upgrading of its back office and production support systems.

ATL, which is part of the Foresight Group, employs 65 skilled staff and its aerospace, defence and industrial turbine customers include Rolls-royce, Siemens and Iberia. Its growth plans will mean winning new customers and expanding business with its existing customer base. It is hoped that job numbers can double in the next five years.

Following a downturn in business in 2015 driven by the decommissioning of the RAF Tornado fighter jet, the firm has made a significant recovery, recording year-on-year growth in turnover of around 35 per cent to more than £5m in 2017.

Chief executive Kerr Picken: “We are on an upwards curve and have set ourselves a really ambitious sales target because there is huge opportunity in the market.”

Companies on the SIG programme have secured more than £2bn in contracts to date – almost 20 per cent of which is for direct export. Having secured some 3,000 jobs, SIG is said to be well on target to hit its ultimate objective of safeguarding 10,000 UK jobs by 2022.

The programme is endorsed by Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, Bombardier, GE, GKN, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, MBDA, Rolls-royce, Safran and Thales. It is supported by the Regional Growth Fund and more than £150m in private investment.

SIG boss Andy Page: “We are delighted to welcome ATL onto our programme and to helping them achieve their ambitions in the highly competitive maintenance, repair and overhaul market.

“Since our inception in 2013 Sharing in Growth has delivered more than two million training hours and worked with more than 60 companies to secure contracts and sustain growth.” Travel giant Thomas Cook has said demand for summer holidays abroad shows no sign of abating, but warned of a competitive and “unpredictable” market. Boss Peter Fankhauser cheered a “good start” to the financial year as group revenues rose 7 per cent to £1.7 billion in the first quarter to 31 December. The tour operator’s seasonal loss narrowed by £10 million to £42m in the quarter after its airline was boosted by the collapse of rivals such as Monarch in the UK.