Fastest growing Scottish company named

The engineering firm is first among eight Scottish companies in a prestigious league table, compiled by accountancy firm BDO, of the UK’s 100 most rapidly growing businesses.

Balmoral comes in at number 14 overall in the latest Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100, which ranks Britain’s private businesses with the fastest growing profits over three years.

The firm, which has its headquarters in the Loirston area of the Granite City, is the sole representative from the north and north-east on the list.

The company recently announced its pre-tax profits grew by 38 per cent in 2016 despite “turmoil” in the oil and gas industry.

It has seen annual profit growth of 101 per cent over the past three years.

Established by managing director and chairman, Jim Milne in 1980 with just five employees, Balmoral now has a workforce of around 600 people designing and manufacturing products for the subsea, energy and environmental sectors.

However, this year’s placing is seven places below its 2016 listing in the same Sunday Times/BDO table.

But, Mr Milne, who was named Entrepreneurial Scotland’s Entrepreneur of the Year last year, said he was still pleased with his firm’s performance, particularly given the background of lower oil prices.

He said: “We are pleased to be highly ranked in the UK Profit Track listings again.

“This reflects the investment made in our infrastructure and processes over the years as well as the ded- ication and commitment of our workforce.

“Things are extremely tough at the moment, with much uncertainty and numerous project delays in the global markets.

“This is concerning for exporting companies such as Balmoral as we sent 77% of our manufactured goods overseas last year.”

He added: “A long-term strategy of R&D and innovation has helped our development but international growth is extremely hard won.

“We don’t need any more barriers created to make this even harder, and I appeal to our political leaders to listen to the voice of commerce to inform future policy decisions.”