Major Fife industrial supplies firm Scott Group expects sales to top £120 million this year as trading continues to improve.
New accounts published at Companies House show the Halbeath Business Park-based group one of the UK’s largest suppliers of pallets and packaging services generated revenues of £106.5m in the year to December 31, 2013, up from £102.3m the previous year, while pre-tax profits fell from £2.63m to £2.3m.
However, group operations director Norman Scott yesterday said the firm had benefited from a stronger trading environment in recent months and the business was on track to deliver significant double-digit turnover growth this year.
“I am pleased to say that we are seeing growth in the top line and in the bottom line, and trading in the first half of the year has been improved,” said Mr Scott.
“I know the pallet division is predicting a 14% increase in sales year on year, and the recovery in the wider economy is definitely helping us.
“We have seen an uplift in construction product customers, but across most sectors we are seeing growth and we are continuing to grow and develop our business.”
The firm employs about 1,000 staff in 26 operational sites around the UK.
The group has three main divisions, led by the dominant Scott Pallets business but also including Scott Packaging and Scott Direct, a supplier of tools, work wear, personal protection equipment and thousands of other products to industries such as construction and manufacturing.
In his strategic report to the 2013 accounts, Mr Scott said the firm had positioned itself to capitalise on the recovering market.
He noted key new management appointments in Scott Direct and Scott Pallets, and said the firm had invested in new automated warehousing equipment for its Grangemouth distribution centre.
He said the firm had moved to improve its business management and accounting systems and was progressing towards the launch of a new e-commerce platform, expected to go live early next year.
However, Mr Scott said the key move was a multi-million-pound investment in creating a bespoke manufacturing centre on a sizeable plot owned by Forth Ports at Burntisland.
The facility, which came online at the start of this month, replaces former premises rented from the port operator at Rosyth and comes with its own quayside access to allow timber to be directly shipped in and out for the purpose of manufacturing and reconditioning used pallets.
Mr Scott said the development, supported by a £250,000 regional selective assistance grant from Scottish Enterprise, was a key strand of the firm’s growth strategy.
“It is very important to us and it is a big project for the group,” Mr Scott said.
“We finally came up from the Rosyth site to Burntisland and we have been fully operational and manufacturing since October 1.
“It is a large purpose-developed site on a site of about six acres and, uniquely, it has its own sea terminal operation so it enables us to bring timber in from the Baltics directly into our manufacturing site.
“The workforce from Rosyth have moved to Burntisland, and we would expect to see it grow.”
Mr Scott said the group’s various divisions are setting their targets for next year, and the outlook for the business is good.
“This is budgeting time for us, so all parts of the business are challenged to come forward with plans for the next year,” he said.
“Every division is talking about growth opportunities and the potential for acquisition opportunities.
“We are excited by growth and developing the business in the UK and never want to be standing still.”