Shaking up wind energy business
SME FOCUS between sectors and from big business to small.
What were you doing before you took the plunge?
I have an aeronautical engineering background and worked for Rolls-royce making gas turbine engines for Airbus and Boeing aircraft. I was involved in the design and performance of engines before moving into commercial, customer-facing roles. My time in the aerospace industry involved considerable global travel; I was lucky enough to work with some of the world’s most talented people in places such as Toulouse, Hong Kong and Seattle.
How did you raise the start-up funding?
We are a privately-financed business. The start-up funding came from various loans, as well as grants from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which has been incredibly supportive. In 2012 our chairman, Angus Macdonald, came on board and pledged money as an angel investor. Since then, he’s progressively invested in the business and is now our major shareholder. His unique blend of benevolent entrepreneurialism has been hugely important to our success and growth.
What was your biggest break?
Winning a contract to manage all of Innogy’s Nordex turbines in the UK. Working with such a large utility company gave us credibility, strengthened our business and, most importantly, acted as a catalyst for other businesses to take a closer look at what we can offer.
What do you most enjoy about running the business?
The diversity of work is extraordinary and every day is different.
What do you least enjoy?
As a small business, sometimes it’s very difficult to persuade larger corporations that we can help them; deeply embedded cultures are hard to alter.
We are essentially a disrupter: we’re asking people to change what they do, to make different decisions and to innovate with us. Believing in something but failing to persuade others of the benefits can be demoralising but we are optimists and patient.
As a small business, sometimes it’s very difficult to persuade larger corporations that we can help them
What are your top priorities?
Beyond growth and finding talent to drive it, refurbishment engineering is a big priority for us now and it was fantastic to open our new Refurbishment Centre in October.
Wind energy is a green energy source but we must also run the industry in the greenest way possible. This includes recycling materials that are unserviceable and returning them back into market. It’s complicated and timeconsuming, and high quality research is necessary to do it well. We are proud to be working very closely with Strathclyde University and MIT to do that.
What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?
Government’s role is to set the right environment and policy framework so businesses like ours can thrive. I would like to see an increased emphasis on the supply chain because that is where our business is focused.