The firm, led by manufacturing veteran Andy Simpson, has started implementing its new growth plan with its first apprentice, 18-year-old local school leaver Ritchie Webster, beginning his four-year Modern Apprenticeship in Additive & Subtractive Manufacturing at Dundee & Angus College pn August 1.

Mr Simpson hopes to take on another new member of staff in October or November – when we plan to move to larger premises at the town’s Montrose Road Industrial Estate in order to increase manufacturing space by 250% and allow us to invest £100,000 in more equipment and improvements to our manufacturing processes.

The acquisition of a water jet cutter earlier this year with an £8,000 BIG Fund grant from Angus Council – to cut any material for our clients and give access to that capability to other local small businesses – highlighted the space limitations at our existing council-owned units in Brechin Business Centre, where we’ve been based since launching in January 2017.

Angus 3D Solutions supports multiple industries in Scotland and beyond – from manufacturing, medical and oil & gas to horticulture automation, transport, aviation and satellite launch projects. Our clients include W.L. Gore Ltd, Johnstons of Elgin, Intelligent Growth Solutions and a Formula 1 team.

Speaking about the growth-focused changes, Andy Simpson said: “I’m delighted to be able to create local jobs as part of my new growth plan, which aims to take our turnover past £400,000 by the end of 2023.

“Aside from passing on the crucial career start I once received myself, having Ritchie doing his Modern Apprenticeship while working with us will allow us to develop our capabilities further through him – specifically additional cutting-edge skills in Additive Manufacturing (3D-printing).

“While we’re grateful for the excellent support we’ve had from Angus Council over the years, the larger premises at Montrose Road Industrial Estate are better suited to our current and future needs and will enable us to increase production capacity to realise our forecast growth.”