The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Balmoral Group named as fastest-growing company in Scotland
Firm’s success recognised
Balmoral Group has been named the fastest-growing company in Scotland.
The Aberdeen-based engineering firm is first among eight Scottish companies in a prestigious league table of the UK’s 100 most rapidly growing businesses.
It is at number 14 overall in the latest Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100, seven places below its 2016 listing.
Balmoral is the sole representative from the north and north-east on the list, which ranks Britain’s private businesses with the fastest growing profits over three years.
The company recently announced its pre-tax profits grew by 38% in 2016 despite “turmoil” in the oil and gas industry.
It has seen annual profit growth of 101% over the past three years.
Yesterday, the company’s managing director and chairman, Jim Milne, said he was pleased with its performance, particularly given the background of lower oil prices.
Mr Milne said: “We are pleased to be highly ranked in the UK Profit Track listings again.
“This reflects the investment made in our infrastructureandprocesses over the years as well as the ded- ication and commitment of our workforce.
“Things are extremely tough at the moment, with much uncertainty and numerous project delays in the global markets.
“This is concerning for exporting companies such as Balmoral as we sent 77% of our manufactured goods overseas last year.”
He added: “A long-term strategy of R&D and innovation has helped our development but international growth is extremely hard won.
“We don’t need anymore barriers created to make this even harder, and I appeal to our political leaders to listen to the voice ofcommerce to inform future policy decisions.”
Established by Mr Milne in 1980, with just five employees, Balmoral Group now has a workforce of around 600 people designing and manufacturing products for the subsea, energy and environmental sectors.
The company recently invested £10million in a new hydrostatic test centre at its Loirston headquarters.