Scotland-based fire and security company, Scotshield unveiling a 35pc increase in turnover for 2007/8.
The company, which designs, supplies, installs and maintains fire detection and security systems to public and private sector organisations across the UK, has reported a jump in turnover to £12.2 million for the last financial year.
The company, which specialises in the fire detection, CCTV surveillance, intruder alarm and access control equipment, says its results were due to many factors including significant investment in staff and IT systems over the past two years.
John Stewart, Scotshield’s Operations Director, said: "Despite the tough economic times, we have grown significantly over the past year and this is down to building good client relationships and having approximately 40pc of our business tied up in long-term maintenance contracts."
"We continue to invest in the right people and latterly we updated our IT system which we forecast would deliver for us and I am pleased to say that it has. We are not taking anything for granted, particularly in this current climate, but we are looking forward to continued growth in this financial year."
He added: "Our mix of work is helping to add some stability and at the same time we are continuing to win new clients and new business."
The firm announced it has won a £1million contract in Dumfries and Galloway for 10 PPP Schools to supply and maintain life safety systems in a mix of new primary and secondary schools being built across the region.
The company will be installing fire detection, CCTV, access control and staff attack systems over the next two years, starting with a school in Stranraer. The firm will also be maintaining these systems for several years as part of the contract.
Scotshield was formed in 1989 and has installed, commissioned and maintained systems for clients including IBM, Celtic and Rangers football clubs, Glasgow City Council, the Ministry of Defence and many PLC construction companies.
The company has over 130 staff with offices in Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness and in line with its growth plans Scotshield have announced the opening of its Belfast office. "It has been a great start to 2009," said John Stewart "with the opening of the new office and our first contract win in Northern Ireland we couldn’t have hoped for more. There’s an obvious demand in Northern Ireland for a company with our experience in delivering multi-disciplined projects, and in particular, as we are a "Gent Technical Centre" this opens a whole new avenue to the Northern Irish market. The fact that we offer a fully comprehensive solution from design concept right through to "life cycle" is key to meeting the demands of this market place. We know what the market wants and as such we are prepared to invest in the people, premises and stock holding that is required to support our client base."
"We have grown organically and have sought to form strong alliances with strategic partners, which have proved very productive and this will continue to be the case.
"Our plans for 2009 include making inroads into further markets and enhancing the offering to our client base. We are one of the few companies who offer a diverse maintenance package to meet the client site specific needs. It is by being ambitious and opportunistic that we will continue Scotshield’s growth not only for this year but for many years to come."
