North East offshore specialist FES International is on the hunt for a fourth site as it looks to take advantage of increasing demand for its services.
The Ashington-based business designs, manufacturers and supplies fluid transfer systems from its North Seaton Industrial Estate base. The company was started as a two-man team by Rob Anderson and technical director Ian Latimer 25 years ago with first year turnover of £143,000, and has since grown a list of global oil and gas clients, as well as a growing list of renewables customers.
Three years after acquiring space on the Jubilee Industrial Estate which more than doubled the company’s footprint, while also adding a new division, managing director Mr Anderson said the firm has expanded into a third site close to its Ashington plant, and that the company is now viewing locations for a fourth potential site.
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The expansion comes on the back of growing buoyancy in the recovering oil and gas sector, as well as boom times in the renewables market, which have contract wins in markets all over the world. It also coincides with the company totting up a record forward order book in excess of £26m as it marks its 25th trading anniversary.
Mr Anderson said: “We bought the old Dunlop Copytech building, the largest facility we have with land for expansion, and we’re also looking at developing another local site where we’ll focus on renewables.”
Collectively, the company currently has a total footprint in excess of 150,000sqft, as well as five acres of land for development, and a four site will add 50% more space. FES currently employs more than 50 staff across its bases and Mr Anderson says the firm is on the lookout for more talent.
He said: “We’re on a bit of a recruitment campaign at the moment and there’s no ceiling on it because our turnover is growing exceptionally. We’re always looking for good talent to add to the magnificent team we already have.
“We’ve got a great team of local employees. Even when we’re not actively looking if we come across rising stars we’ll make a place in the business for them.”
News of expansion comes as the firm posts accounts for the year ended July 31 2021, in which turnover soared from £10.8m to £18.2m. Operating profit also grew more than sixfold from £980,575 to £6.45m. Overall profit for the year came in at £5.98m, up from £837,186 a year earlier.
The accounts period covered the beginning of the industry’s recovery from the downward pressures on oil and gas prices, as well as the lifting of Covid-19 restraints.
In the accounts report, Mr Anderson said FES had not been unaffected by the pandemic and the industry slump, but that it had successfully managed its resources to ensure its “survives the global struggles” to be in a strong position for future years.
Mr Anderson said the more recent financial year’s figures will be even more positive, after using lockdown periods to focus on R&D and new product development.
He said: “Next year’s figures are going to be even better reading. Our order book as of this morning is at an all-time high, by some measure, of around £26m.
“The interesting thing is that 90% is international trade, coming from all over the world, and what I’m particularly proud of is that 90% of what we manufacture is within a 15 to 20 mile radius of Ashington. So we’re huge in the supply chain, but all our staff live and work locally.
“The work isn’t coming from any particular hotspots either, it’s coming from all over - it’s just gone ballistic since we came back from Covid.
“We’ve had 25 successful years and it’s significantly different now to when we started. We’ve got a real global footprint now and spent a lot of money in R&D during Covid, expanding the design team, spending time to bring new products to the market, and we’re starting to see the benefit now.
“We’re seeing the benefits of being a mature business but we’re always looking forward, so we’re making great inroads into renewables which is really exciting for us.”
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