A Scottish entrepreneur is seeking new partners to help grow the forestry engineering business he launched 34 years ago and take it to the next stage of development.
Fergus Mitchell left his job as a workshop foreman at an agricultural equipment dealership to join an established forestry machinery engineering firm. But after two years, when his new employer went out of business, the former time-served mechanic found himself seeking work.
“Losing my job was unexpected but I’d always dreamt of being self-employed – now it was make or break time,” said Fergus, founder of PM Forest & Field Engineering in Perthshire. “I decided to go out on my own.”
He began by continuing the sales and servicing of forestry equipment – harvesters that cut trees into lengths, forwarders that carry timber to the roadside, and lorries that take it to their destination, then selling, installing and servicing ‘on vehicle’ weighing equipment manufactured in West Yorkshire.
The business grew steadily on the back of Scotland’s transport and growing forestry sector, which generates £1.1 billion earnings and supports more than 34,000 jobs, and burgeoning demand for accurate, on-vehicle weighing. Now PMFFE employs six people from its workshop and offices in Blairgowrie and is set to achieve £2.5 million turnover this year.
The profitable company has also branched out into providing equipment for and servicing lorries, vans and waste collection vehicles; it operates in Scotland, parts of the UK and Ireland.
“We are growing year on year and the business is set fair for continued expansion,” said Fergus Mitchell. “We’re looking for someone to come in and continue with the investment and dedication needed to capitalise on the progress we’ve made to date, to take the operation to the next stage.”
