A Perth-based engineering firm has outlined ambitious plans to grow its turnover to £20 million within the next three years.
Edwards Engineering operates a 45,000 sq ft factory from Glenearn Road with customers spanning the food and drink, manufacturing, agricultural and construction sectors.
The 50-year-old firm was bought from the founding family in August 2016 by investment group Cartalex.
Since then the company has expanded at a rate of 20% a year.
Chief executive Ben Carter said Edwards was eyeing acquisitions as a way to continue its expansion, in particular companies that can improve the breadth and depth of its technical offering, as well as extending its geographic reach further in the UK.
The firm has already been in discussion with several potential partners.
He said: “We are keen to grow the business. When we bought Edwards two and a half years ago, we saw a solid reputation to build upon and a multi-skilled and committed team.
“We want to steadily grow the Edwards business and to make selective acquisitions in the engineering sector UK-wide.
“We are actively looking at businesses that either have succession issues or are non-core to bigger engineering groups where, through further investment and improvements in productivity we can realise significant revenue synergies.”
Edwards currently employs 60 staff with annual sales of around £7.5m. Apprentices make up a fifth of the firm’s 40-strong engineering workforce.
Key recent projects include the installation of the new furnace building and ancillary equipment at Superglass in Stirling and the upgrade of the malthouse at Crisp Maltings’ Port Gordon site.
The company has also provided services for the new grain processing facilities for Alexander Harleys Seeds, Alexander Inglis & Son and Moray Estates.
Mr Carter added: “Our job is to find solutions to deliver the best outcomes for our clients.
“Our in-house skillset is a relatively rare combination — there are a lot of firms that specialise in any one of those disciplines, but there is not a huge number that can take on the sorts of multi-disciplined projects we do, with their own drawing office and extensive fabrication facilities.
“We are proud of our long history, however we know we are only as good as the last project.
“Our focus is on ensuring that the client is completely satisfied with what we do – if things go wrong, we just get on and fix the issues.
“We are hopeful that with that culture, everything else takes care of itself.
“The real indication of whether we have been successful in a job is if we win the next project with that customer and the next project after that”.