PERTH based Edwards Engineering has announced the multi-disciplinary engineering firm’s year end results, revealing a 28% increase in turnover, from £7.5million to £9.6 million.
Operating from a 45,000 sq. ft site with extensive fabrication facilities, the 50-year-old firm with customers spanning the food and drink, manufacturing, agricultural and construction sectors was acquired through a management buy-in with support from existing management in August 2016. In the last three years, revenues have doubled delivering year on year growth of 26% and 28% in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Supporting the growth of the business staff numbers have increased by over 20% from 48 to 62. Apprentices make up a fifth of the firm’s 40 strong engineering workforce.
Edwards Engineering Chief Executive, Ben Carter said: “Investment in our project management capability has resulted in us being able to take on the Principal Contactor role on larger projects. We are seeing strong growth in the Maltings industry and Grain Processing for major farmers, cooperatives and traders.
“We’ve worked closely with Kingdom Farms delivering the new £1 million seed processing facility at Balgonie Estates near Glenrothes, and with the Muntons team on their Malting Germination Bed Replacement in Stowmarket, Suffolk. The successful completion of a £4 million project with Superglass Insulation to install the new furnace building at Stirling, doubled their annual production capacity of glass wool.”
“We recognize that no two projects are the same and that we need to adopt a flexible approach. Combining the multi-skilled capabilities of our in-house design and fabrication facility alongside the on-site installation of complex projects has directly contributed to the doubling of our sales figures in the last three years. We are planning continued investment in our technical and project management capabilities to underpin further growth as we work towards our target of £20 million turnover.”
Key to the growth of the company is its investment in training, and the apprentice programme designed and implemented in-house by Edwards to ensure a solid grounding of the key engineering skills the company has built its reputation on. In the last 18 months, three apprentices have completed their training and SVQ’s in welding and fabrication. Ten apprentices are currently working across Edwards’ client sites with another five expected to join the Apprenticeship Scheme in 2020.
Sandy Kirk, Managing Director, Edwards Engineering, said: “We’re very proud of our successful Apprenticeship Scheme that delivers both knowledge and employability. We ensure the Apprentices’ skillsets are honed in-house through working alongside our experienced engineers, project managers, draftsmen, site operatives and highly-skilled fabricators.”
Edwards Engineering announced a formal partnership in October 2019 with DPS Group, a leading Scottish electrical, instrumentation and control business. The joint venture follows Edwards Engineering’s acquisition of the intellectual property, designs and copyrights of JE Cockayne Limited, the leading provider of cask filling and disgorging systems to the whisky industry. The new joint venture company, Cockayne Systems, will be servicing existing customers and aims to provide innovative solutions to the wide range of customers’ needs in the industry.
