The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Tayside and Fife firms win Queen’s Awards
Arbroath, Perth and Glenrothes firms hailed for expansion and international trading success
An Arbroath business that turned itself back from the brink has achieved one of the UK’s most distinguished business honours.
Interplex PMP is one of three firms in Tayside and Fife to win Queen’s Awards for Enterprise for international trade.
The company in Elliot Industrial Estate has been honoured for its substantial growth in overseas earnings and commercial success.
Interplex manufactures precision components including stamped and plated parts, plastic mouldings, assemblies and tape and reel packaging for the automotive, telecommunications and medical industries.
In five years it has turned a trading loss into profit, tripling sales to £17m and increasing overseas trade by 360%.
Stephen Barlow, managing director, said: “Our employee numbers have increased from 80 people on a three-day week to over 170 staff with the capacity to work 24/7.
“This acknowledgement caps five years of effort to get this company back from the dark place that it found itself in.”
He continued: “If you drive a car or use a broadband connection, the chances are that they contain components manufactured by Interplex.
“Few companies in Europe are fully integrated with the core capabilities we have to stamp, plate and mould under one roof.”
The firm ships to customers as far afield as the Czech Republic and Romania, and Mr Barlow added: “This award demonstrates what can be achieved when you combine a highly motivated and skilled workforce with a robust business strategy and fully-integrated inhouse capabilities.”
Perth-based drilling engineering consultancy Merlin ERD has been awarded a second Queen’s Award.
It has doubled overseas turnover in three years and grown personnel from 26 to 38, an impressive achievement given the turbulence in the oil and gas industry.
Merlin increased sales to its markets from Norway to Australia, while adding customers in new regions including the Middle East and Brazil.
Managing director Iain Hutchison said: “To win the Queen’s Award a second time is a truly exceptional achievement. It exemplifies our achievements as industry leaders in advanced drilling technologies on a global scale.”
HCS Control Systems of Viewfield Industrial Estate, Glenrothes, supplies electrical and hydraulic equipment to the oil and gas sectors.
With primary customers in the UK and West Africa it has expanded into 25 countries including the United States and in the Middle East and Asia.
Chief executive Brett Lestrange said: “Over the last few years we have worked hard to successfully expand our international client base.”
He added: “Although the oil and gas service and supply industry is in a crisis at present, our international client base has afforded us some respite from the worst of the downturn, and continues to position us to capture the upturn when the industry gets back to work.”
“To win the Queen’s Award a second time is a truly exceptional achievement. IAIN HUTCHISON