Category: News

A long-established supplier of top-end technical equipment for climbers, mountaineers, backpackers, campers and other outdoor enthusiasts has moved its headquarters from England to Scotland.

Allcord, which developed from the Gourock Ropework Company and was based in Newcastle for more than 30 years, is now operating from a new office and warehouse complex at Livingston, West Lothian. A subsidiary office in Newcastle has been retained.

The move, which has created five new jobs bringing the current number of employees to ten, follows the acquisition of an 80% stake in the company by Coralinn LLP private equity company.

Coralinn chairman Hugh Stewart said: “Allcord has a fantastic reputation in the outdoor clothing and equipment market and Coralinn has invested to allow it to grow substantially in the next few years.

“We have invested in the latest IT systems and have provided a state of the art warehousing facility and showrooms. To bring the business back Scotland where it can trace its roots and provide up to 10 new jobs fits in with Coralinn’s investment strategy.”

Mr Stewart added: “In Kieron Mackenzie we have a Managing Director not only highly experienced in the company’s products but a highly respected figure with a proven track record.”

Allcord, which distributes well-known brands through a network of retailers throughout the UK and Ireland, stocks a comprehensive range of equipment required for the outdoors.

It also supplies industrial ropes and safety equipment to government departments, local authorities, major companies, military establishments, outdoor centres and individual professional users.

Its next-day delivery service is backed by the company’s large stockholding at its Livingston warehouse. Brands include Dolomite, Trangoworld, Fizan, SOTO, CAMP, Climb X, Tendon, TSL, Silkbody, Karrimor, Asolo and Icepeak.

Allcord managing director Kieron MacKenzie, an experienced mountaineer whose achievements include climbing Everest and other major peaks, said relocating to Scotland marked the next stage of the company’s development.

He said: “Coralinn’s backing and the move to our new office and warehousing premises gives us the opportunity and space to develop and grow further.

“These changes represent a new and exciting time for Allcord and the brands we sell. We are looking forward to the challenges ahead and feel both confident and excited to have secured support from Coralinn. They have already demonstrated their long term commitment to Allcord and more importantly to the people involved which is a key part of Coralinn’s investment policy.”

Mr MacKenzie said quality of product and service was of prime importance to Allcord who operate a fully documented and implemented quality management system independently monitored to the International Standard ISO 9001:2008.

He added: “We are proud to be one of the first British companies in the outdoor equipment Industry to achieve such accreditation and we are committed to a culture of continual improvement in all quality matters.”

A fast-growing Scottish software company has opened an office in the upmarket tourist resort of Cabo San Lucas in Baja California, Mexico, and revealed plans for further expansion.

Glasgow-based iPort Software International, whose UK clients include NHS Scotland, West Coast Trains and grocery chain SPAR, is building a new customer base in Mexico after launching its latest version of its iPort Business Platform which enables businesses to use the web in a more integrated way to generate traffic and sales.

New clients in Mexico include the Grupo Cuestro conglomerate, whose brands include Corona Beer, real estate specialists BajaSmart, marina and resorts group Puerto Los Cabos, hotels including Los Milagros and The Hotelito and yacht charter company, Pisces.

The business platform includes content management services, customer relationship management and App and mobile device support.

Its success is already attracting interest from other resort areas in Mexico and iPort Software International is planning to roll out the same model in Puerto Vallarta this year and Cancun in 2014.

iPort Software International director Chic McSherry decided to expand in Mexico after identifying a business opportunity while holidaying in the Baja Peninsula.

Chic said: “I started going there about 10 years ago and was struck by the dynamism of the local economy and the business opportunities. Yet the lack of IT infrastructure and business experience was really holding things back.

“We already had an office in Houston, Texas, and an ethos of going wherever opportunity took us, so it just seemed to me a great fit for us.”

As well as developing a number of important websites for businesses in Cabo, the new business platform was used to develop and deliver another new venture for iPort – an interactive Tourist Information Resource iCabo.com (www.icabo.com) which has just been officially launched.

The site offers a completely free directory service to tourists as well as a wealth of current information on Los Cabos ranging from cultural events to fishing reports. With more than 5000 pages of content, it is already the largest independent information resource for tourists visiting the area.

Chic added: “Unlike most software projects where you develop something for use by a client, in this case we are using our own system to roll out an end product for users. The risk, and the rewards, will be all ours.”

Chic added: “We see this as having global potential. The way we structured the development means that we have effectively created a turnkey, franchisable model and this makes it easy to quickly tailor the solution to a wide range of business requirements.

“The software underpinning iCabo.com is basically the same as the software we use to roll out developments to our Scottish and UK Customers such as SPAR, NHS Health Scotland and West Coast Trains. It is tried and tested.”

Scottish Development International provided early help in setting up the project and Chic said: “They recognised that this represents a really exciting and challenging opportunity for us.

“For sure, it’s a risk to set up something so far away, but nothing great was ever achieved without a little bit of risk and a lot of enthusiasm.”

The new venture has created two full time and two part time posts in Mexico so far and sustains three jobs in Scotland with more recruitment planned in both countries.

iPort Software International is the holding company for private equity company Coralinn LLP’s IT and eCommerce businesses in the UK, the USA and Mexico and Coralinn’s managing partner Hugh Stewart said the iPort Business Platform was a “superb product”.

He said: “It provides excellent opportunities for iPort to significantly grow its client base as well as being a platform for growth in Coralinn’s other investments.

“Chic McSherry has a proven track record for growing IT businesses and with Coralinn’s support the new platform has already proved successful.

“Our new iCabo venture in Mexico proves that small Scottish IT companies can successfully succeed in international markets and we have ambitious plans for growth over the next few years.”

He added: “Coralinn recognises that IT is a strategic resource for all companies both large and small, especially SME’s. For too many businesses in Scotland IT is a completely neglected strategic resource, most companies viewing it simply as a cost.”

Alex Salmond took a close-up view of Scotland’s first satellite today as the Glasgow-based team behind the mission announced plans to open a base in the United States.

Clyde Space, which designed and built the UKube-1 nanosatellite, is running final tests at the company’s headquarters in the West of Scotland Science Park ahead of its deployment next month to Kazakhstan, where it will be launched in a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket later this year.

Employing more than 20 highly-skilled full-time staff, Clyde Space is a leading producer of small satellite, nanosatellite and ‘CubeSat’ systems – fully-functional satellites that ‘piggy-back’ on other launches to minimise costs and boost the commercial availability of space research. The company develops and delivers products to commercial aerospace, defence companies and academic teams around the world and now plans to open a base next year in the United States – which already accounts for almost a third of its current orders.

Mr Salmond said: “From James Clerk Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory that paved the way for deep-space telescopes, to Professor Higgs work at the University of Edinburgh into the building blocks of all matter, Scottish science has helped humankind better understand our universe.  By pioneering a cost-effective way of supporting more space research, the Clyde Space team is building on a strong heritage of engineering, ingenuity and innovation. I’m delighted that, through Scottish Enterprise, we’ve been able to support this exciting company as it has built the business globally, to a point, now, where it is planning a new base in the US.

“It is great to see up close Scotland’s first space satellite – representing another successful Scottish export drive, but not as we know it. After years of hard work Craig and his stellar team have shown they have the right stuff to achieve a space mission and they’re ready to make it so.  I’m delighted that the mission not only supports several research projects but will engage young people online and can help inspire the next generation of space scientists and engineers. We cannot change the laws of physics but it’s important that we continue to study and understand them better. It’s one small satellite for Clyde, a giant leap for their extraterrestrial export business and a new hope for space science in Scotland!”

The UKube-1 is a UK Space Agency mission that will include experiments to use Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to measure space weather and to test how cosmic radiation could improve the security of communications satellites. The satellite will also carry a payload made up of five experiments that students across the UK and the public can interact with and an outreach programme for school pupils.

Clyde Space CEO Craig Clark said: “Clyde Space is a product-focused company operating in a traditionally service-based market.  This has allowed the company to clearly differentiate itself to supply to the emerging, fast growing, nanosatellite sector. The size of spacecraft that Clyde Space mostly work with weigh less than 5 kilograms and are about the size of a small desktop computer.  Through our innovation and understanding of this market, Clyde Space has positioned itself as a world leader in the supply of subsystems, especially to organisations in the USA such as NASA, the US Air Force and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). With the development of our latest product, a complete satellite, Clyde Space aims to significantly grow the company over the next five years and expand further into the US market in particular. Ukube-1 is the first spacecraft to be design and built in Scotland – if we are successful in our business plan, it will be the first of many more Scottish satellites.”

The First Minister was joined by Scottish Enterprise CEO Lena Wilson and Sergey Krutikov, the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Scotland during today’s visit – part of a programme of events this week aimed at showcasing the best of Scottish science.

Lena Wilson, CEO of Scottish Enterprise, which has been supporting the company to further its innovation through product development and increase overseas trading, said: “The global space industry is forecast to be worth £400 billion by 2030, so there’s huge opportunity for innovative companies like Clyde Space to grab a share of this international market. Exporting is still one of the key routes to business growth and economic recovery.  The recent Global Connections Survey highlighted the international growth opportunities which exist for Scottish companies in both emerging markets and more traditional economies. When companies couple product innovation tailored to meet customer needs with targeting of new markets and geographies, it’s a powerful recipe for business success and continuing, sustainable growth.”

Hugh Stewart OBE, Clyde Space chairman and Managing Partner of private equity company Coralinn LLP a financial backer of the company, added: “Clyde Space is a fantastic Scottish example of how a small company can compete globally in leading-edge manufacturing. Its strategy is for continued growth and we hope to open in the USA in the next year. At Coralinn we invest in high-growth Scottish companies wanting to compete in a global market and Clyde Space is a classic example of how companies of all sizes can succeed at that level. Scotland has the people, support networks and capacity to grow more businesses like Clyde Space.”

Today’s visit is part of the First Minister’s week of showcasing Scottish scientific excellence, which has also seen the launch of a Higgs Prize for school physics students (honouring world-renowned University of Edinburgh physics professor Peter Higgs) and the expansion of life sciences research facilities in Edinburgh.

As an account-managed company, Clyde Space has worked with Scottish Enterprise over the last seven years to support its growth ambitions and help develop specific growth strategies.  This support has focused on helping the company to streamline production, innovate new products and expand overseas, through: Three SMART: Scotland feasibility grants with a contribution of £185,000 towards total project investment costs of £269,000 to test feasibility of the company’s CubeSat product, an intelligent plug project and a spacecraft applications layer project; £30,000 of R&D grant funding towards a total project investment of £85,500 to develop the company’s CubeSat product; a Regional Selective Assistance grant of £220,000 towards a capital expenditure by the company of £1.1 million to build the company’s clean room manufacturing facility and to create 18 new jobs as a result of the project; and support to formalise manufacturing processes and systems through the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service and help to improve inventory and production.

Scottish headquartered T.O.M. Vehicle Rental is expanding its rental operations with a move into the north-west of England after acquiring a site in Manchester.

The Airdrie-based company announced it had opened its first depot south of the border at Trafford Park, Manchester. The 1.5 acre Manchester site will be stocked with new vehicles worth in excess of £1million and will create 10 new jobs, a figure which is expected to increase.

T.O.M. director James Rafferty said: “This is an exciting time for the company and we see massive potential to compete for more business in England by offering the same high level of service that our reputation is built upon and which companies dealing with us in Scotland have come to expect.

“The Manchester site represents an excellent start point for this goal and we are already in advanced talks to supply a total of 350 vehicles to a number of prominent operators in the North West region”

The expansion follows T.O.M.’s acquisition of two Mercedes Benz Truck and Van franchises last year. Mr Rafferty confirmed that the company was pleased with the progress made at these dealerships since they were added to the T.O.M. group.

T.O.M. is already Scotland’s leading vehicle rental company with around 350 staff, a fleet of 6000 vehicles and sites in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Ayr, Aberdeen and Inverness. The Manchester depot is part of a longer-term plan for further expansion in England.

Mr Rafferty said: “T.O.M. is already a national provider of vehicle rental and fleet management. Increasing the spread of our own depots will deliver greater efficiencies and economic benefit to our customers and our own business and with this in mind, we are hopeful of adding sites in the Birmingham and London areas within the next two years.

T.O.M. also confirmed an £8 million programme to renew the company’s current fleet was underway.

He said: “We see ourselves as being Scotland’s premier vehicle rental company and we want to build on that reputation. Our challenge is to keep the fleet as fresh and young as possible and the renewal programme will see a number of older vehicles being replaced with brand new ones.”

As well as creating new jobs, extending the company’s reach south of the border will also help secure the future for T.O.M.’s current workforce, including 75 apprentices.

In an innovative move for the industry the apprentices, who are training as light and heavy goods vehicle mechanics, painters and panel beaters, are now being rotated around the company’s depots throughout Scotland.

Mr Rafferty said that in locations such as Aberdeen there was strong competition from the oil and gas industry in the recruitment of skilled people and sending apprentices from the company’s other centres not only helped overcome any shortfall but also helped the apprentices broaden their experience and make their training a more rounded experience. The company expects to bolster this talent bank further by recruiting a new intake of apprentices in the summer.

T.O.M.s latest venture in Manchester caps a financial year in which the company acquired John R Weir’s commercial vehicle business from Arnold Clark Automobiles in a £3m deal, opened two new sites, Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles Aberdeen and Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles Inverness, and created TOMbuyanyvan for customers looking to cash in on unwanted vehicles.

The projects fulfilled expectations in the company’s 2012 annual report which anticipated growth, despite difficult economic conditions.

Scotland’s first satellite will be launched from a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket in March 2013.

UKube-1, built by Clyde Space in Glasgow, is now completing final testing at the company’s headquarters before making the journey to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the launch.

Confirming that agreement had been reached for the Russian rocket to carry UKube-1, Clyde Space CEO Craig Clark, said: “UKube-1 aims to be the first of many nanosatellites produced at Clyde Space, and is a fantastic mission for us to demonstrate our capabilities as a spacecraft mission lead.

“I’m proud of the team here at Clyde Space in achieving such a critical milestone in the mission.”

The UKube-1 nanosatellite has been designed and manufactured by Clyde Space at their high-tech facility at the West of Scotland Science Park.

The satellite is one of the most advanced of its kind and the mission is the pilot for a collaborative, national CubeSat programme bringing together UK industry and academia to fly educational packages, test new technologies and carry out new space research quickly and efficiently.

Payloads in UKube-1 include the first GPS device aimed at measuring plasmaspheric space weather, a camera that will take images of the Earth and test the effect of radiation on space hardware using a new generation of imaging sensor and an experiment to demonstrate the feasibility of using cosmic radiation to improve the security of communications satellites and to flight test lower cost electronic systems.

It will also carry a payload made up of five experiments that UK students and the public can interact with and an outreach programme that also allows school children to interact with the spacecraft.

UKube-1 is a UK Space Agency mission. The mission has been funded jointly by Clyde Space (mission prime) and a number of funding partners including the UK Space Agency, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the Technology Strategy Board and there has also been support from Scottish Enterprise.

As well as the platform and payload elements of the mission, UKube-1 is being supported by three UK Ground Stations.

Led by the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory’s Ground Segment in Oxfordshire, these crucial elements will provide the link to the orbiting spacecraft, as well as full planning of the operations.

The supporting ground stations are provided by Dundee and Strathclyde Universities.  The university of Strathclyde groundstation was installed by Clyde Space during an earlier phase of the spacecraft development.

One of Scotland’s fastest-growing private companies, T.O.M., has capped a highly successful year by launching a new venture.

T.O.M., which already specialises in vehicle rental, fleet management, commercial vehicle body manufacture, MOT testing, sales, servicing and repair, has expanded its operation to create TOMbuyanyvan.

In charge of the project is James Rafferty who said providing an opportunity for old and new customers to cash in on unwanted vehicles was a natural extension of the services already offered by T.O.M.

“We aim to be a one stop shop for customers using commercial vehicles, our knowledge and expertise in vans and trucks is second to none,” he said.

Mr Rafferty said TOMbuyanyvan was interested in all makes of van, truck or car and there were no restrictions on age, make or model. Entire fleets and even ‘non-runners’ will be purchased.

He said: “This is an opportunity for people to cash in on unwanted vehicles. On average, any commercial vehicle lying around will depreciate up to 3% of its value per day and many people don’t realise this.

“Many people have vehicles which are off the road either because they are damaged, unreliable or no longer suitable.

They lie around taking up space in yards and driveways when they could be bringing cash in for their owners. TOMbuyanyvan offers an easy and secure means of cashing in your vehicles without any of the common headaches associated with selling”

Mr Rafferty added that if a company wished to sell its entire fleet of aging vehicles and free up capital, T.O.M. would offer to hire new replacements and take responsibility for managing the whole process, saving the customer time and money.

The service is available at the T.O.M. headquarters in Airdrie and at its other sites in Ayr, Aberdeen and Broxburn and, from early next year, at the company’s new site in the Inverness region as well as online at the www.tombuyanyvan.com website.

Mr Rafferty said TOMbuyanyvan differed from competitors who have been criticised for giving one valuation online and a totally different price after the vehicle was inspected.

He said: “We have to inspect the vehicle to make sure that all the information given in the online assessment form is accurate but we don’t want to be severe with inspections, we offer fair values based on the current market. There is no transaction fee and we can collect the vehicle free of charge”

“It’s also a same day valuation, same day completion and same day payment so customers get their money quickly. We want to make the process as simple and hassle-free as possible for anyone looking to sell”

T.O.M., whose main base is in Airdrie, achieved a 41.1% rise in pre-tax profit earlier this year as turnover rose from £27.3million to £38.4m.

Its clients include most Scottish local authorities, the National Health Service and Scottish Water. It has a fleet of more than 5000 vehicles and employs around 350 people.

In September it confirmed it had acquired the commercial vehicle division of John R Weir in a £3m deal allowing it to expand into the north-east through the opening of a depot in Aberdeen.

Another site will be opened in the Inverness area in the spring and further expansion plans are also expected to be announced next year.

West of Scotland based T.O.M. Airdrie is expanding into Aberdeen after buying the commercial vehicle division of John R Weir.

The deal, believed to be worth almost £3 million, creates T.O.M.’s first depot in the north-east and will be followed by further expansion into Inverness scheduled for March 2013.

The new business will be branded ‘Mercedes Benz Commercial Vehicles – Aberdeen’. Sales and after sales of Mercedes Benz Commercial Vehicles will continue to be the core business but a vehicle rental section will be added over the coming weeks to give T.O.M. Vehicle Rental a foothold in the Aberdeen market and create additional jobs.

T.O.M. Commercial Director Robert Stewart said 35 staff currently with John R Weir will be transferred to the new company and he predicted further expansion.

Mr Stewart said: “I believe the business needs additional resource to build a strong platform for further development. We have an excellent site and location in a vibrant, Scottish, micro economy with a strong product range being enhanced with progressive new Mercedes Benz Truck and Van models being released between now and next summer.”

As part of the deal, T.O.M. will also open ‘Mercedes Benz Commercial Vehicles – Inverness’ in March next year.

Mr Stewart said: “This gives us geographical coverage throughout Scotland which would be difficult to beat. Our rental, parts, workshop and recovery areas of the business will benefit from the infrastructure across the country.

“Most importantly this will deliver greater benefits to our customers. It will make rental deliveries more timely and parts availability will become more efficient across the group. When our base in Inverness opens we will have five commercial vehicle workshops across Scotland.”
The acquisition by T.O.M. comes just weeks after John R Weir was taken over by Arnold Clark automobiles.

It marks the company’s growing influence in the sector and strengthened links with Mercedes after acquiring in 2011 the trade and assets of the commercial vehicle operations of Ayr-based Glen Henderson Ltd, a Mercedes Benz authorised repairer and light commercial vehicle sales franchise.

Earlier this week, T.O.M. published figures showing it had achieved a 41.1% rise in pre-tax profit from £1.42million to more than £2m in the year to March as turnover jumped from £27.3m to £38.4m.

Chairman Hugh Stewart said the improvements had been achieved despite a challenging economic background and cash flow pressures affecting many of T.O.M.’s customers.

He said: “We have continued to refine our strategy to take advantage of growth opportunities. More and more customers are turning to T.O.M which reflects the outstanding customer service we deliver and our ability to provide them with cost-efficient solutions.”
T.O.M., whose clients include almost every local authority in Scotland, the NHS and Scottish Water, increased its fleet by more than 21% to almost 5000 – a figure which is still growing – while staff numbers rose by almost 100 to its current level of around 330 including 60 on the Modern Apprenticeship scheme.

In the last 12 months, the company, which specialises in fleet and service management, MOT testing, sales, servicing and repair, has invested almost £300,000 in new facilities at its main site in Airdrie, opened a new rental and service depot at Broxburn in West Lothian, introduced a dedicated Fleet Management Team and strengthened its finance and sales divisions to reflect the growth of the business.

That was also supported by a £7m financing package with GE Capital, allowing the company to support its ambitions to invest in more vehicles and create jobs. It has also doubled its financing facilities.

Managing Director Jim Rafferty said: “It is credit to everyone that we have managed to implement our Strategy in these economic times.
“Our ability to grow and develop is directly linked to the exceptional service levels T.O.M. brings and the level of support from our customers.”

Mr Rafferty said T.O.M. was ready to take advantage of further opportunities for growth and was upbeat about future growth.

He said: “For the coming year we anticipate further significant growth in turnover and profitability. We remain open for new opportunities which will present themselves.”

Vehicle rental company T.O.M. has become one of the fastest growing private companies in Scotland after increasing its turnover and profits by 41%.

The Airdrie-based firm’s annual accounts show turnover up by 40.7% to £38.4million from £27.3m while profit before tax rose 41.1% to more than £2m compared to £1.4m last year.

Chairman Hugh Stewart said the improvements had been achieved despite a challenging economic background and cash flow pressures affecting many of T.O.M.’s customers.

He said: “We have continued to refine our strategy to take advantage of growth opportunities. More and more customers are turning to T.O.M. which reflects the outstanding customer service we deliver and our ability to provide them with cost-efficient solutions.”
T.O.M., whose clients include almost every local authority in Scotland, the NHS and Scottish Water, increased its fleet by more than 21% to almost 5000 – a figure which is still growing – while staff numbers rose by almost 100 to its current level of around 330 including 60 on the Modern Apprenticeship scheme.

The company, as well as specialising in fleet and service management, MOT testing, sales, servicing and repair, also extended its growing influence in the sector by acquiring the trade and assets of the commercial vehicle operations of Ayr-based Glen Henderson Ltd, a Mercedes Benz authorised repairer and light commercial vehicle sales franchise.

T.O.M. also invested almost £300,000 in new facilities at its main site in Airdrie, opened a new rental and service depot at Broxburn in West Lothian, introduced a dedicated Fleet Management Team and strengthened its finance and sales divisions to reflect the growth of the business.
That was also supported by a £7m financing package with GE Capital, allowing the company to support its ambitions to invest in more vehicles and create jobs. It has also doubled its financing facilities.

Managing Director Jim Rafferty said: “It is credit to everyone that we have managed to implement our strategy in these economic times.
“Our ability to grow and develop is directly linked to the exceptional service levels T.O.M. brings and the level of support from our customers.”

Mr Rafferty said T.O.M. was ready to take advantage of further opportunities for growth and was upbeat about future growth.
He said: “For the coming year we anticipate further significant growth in turnover and profitability. We remain open for new opportunities which will present themselves.”

Commercial director Robert Stewart added: “Our business benefits from a solid operating & financial platform, strong reputation within the sector and without doubt the best people from the industry.

“The continued aspiration from T.O.M. is to expand the breadth and depth of services we offer and increase our geographic footprint, our track record shows that we will deliver on those objectives.”