ClydeUnion to recruit 100 more engineers for Cathcart site

 

Author - Ian McConnell © The Herald Originally published: 14/5/2010

Scottish engineering entrepreneur Jim McColl has revealed plans to recruit another 100 skilled engineers for his

ClydeUnion pump manufacturing operations at Cathcart in Glasgow this year, amid surging profits.
                                                   
On top of this, he intends to take on a further 20 apprentices as he continues his rapid expansion of the engineering workforce at a Cathcart site which in 2007 was threatened with closure.

McColl hammered home the importance of replenishing Scotland’s engineering skills base, declaring that most of the old dyed-in-the-wool engineers were now in their 50s.

The entrepreneur, one of Scotland’s richest men, also declared that his wider East Kilbride-based Clyde Blowers empire had between £700m and £1bn to spend on major acquisitions within the next three to five years.

He highlighted his empire’s current capacity to spend between £300m and £400m on an acquisition, indicating an appetite to buy a group of two or three or four different companies which was headquartered in the UK or elsewhere in Europe and had international customers.

McColl, in the wake of the General Election, also renewed his calls for fiscal autonomy for Scotland within the United Kingdom.

He said yesterday that this would remove a headache for Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, who has formed a new coalition Government with the Liberal Democrats.

McColl said of the Scots: “We don’t need to be beggars with our hands out. We should say we will be responsible for raising our own taxes.”

He added that Scotland could then transfer a sum down to Westminster to pay Scotland’s share of spending on reserved functions such as defence.

ClydeUnion comprises the Weir Pumps business bought by McColl from the successful Glasgow-based Weir Group for £48m in 2007 and Michigan-based Union Pump. Union came into McColl’s empire with his acquisition of the wider fluid and power division of US group Textron in 2008, a deal with a total value of $1bn.

McColl saved the Cathcart manufacturing operation of Weir Pumps with his 2007 acquisition.

He was alerted to the opportunity when The Herald revealed a planned deal by Weir Group to sell Weir Pumps to Swiss giant Sulzer – which would have resulted in the end of large-scale manufacturing at Cathcart. The planned Sulzer deal collapsed and McColl stepped in.

The entrepreneur was last night presented with industry body Scottish Engineering’s prestigious annual award in recognition of what he has done with the Cathcart plant.

The site is one of Scotland’s most important engineering facilities. Since he bought the operation and preserved about 535 skilled jobs in 2007, McColl has added a further 175 engineers. In addition, he has taken on 59 apprentices.

Referring to Weir Pumps, McColl said: “Three years ago that business was going to be closed down … To go from being a company that was written off in Scotland to being the hub of the global (ClydeUnion Pumps) business we have now got, and to be winning the top award for your engineering business in Scotland, I think is a good achievement.”

McColl told The Herald yesterday that he was budgeting this year to take on a further 100 skilled engineers. On top of this, he plans to recruit 20 new apprentices.

Asked how important apprenticeships were to the engineering sector in Scotland, McColl replied: “I think it is really important. We are now seeing good opportunities for us, expanding in our market, and in other engineering companies as well, like Howden, Wood Group, Weir Group. There are great opportunities.”

McColl, who started his working life as a 16-year-old apprentice at Weir Pumps in Cathcart, added: “Also, with the development of wind and renewable energy, there is a big opportunity in Scotland. We are going to need the engineers to cope with that.

“I think young people are now beginning to see that as a good alternative. The hard core of the old dyed-in-the-wool engineers are all in their 50s.

“We (in Scotland) have gone through a period where we haven’t been replenishing that. I think there is going to be a period of strong growth in apprenticeships and training of engineers.”

ClydeUnion announced yesterday that its revenues had risen to £255.5m in the year to December 2009, from £108m in 2008, a rise of 137%. Profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased by 98%, from £15.7m in 2008 to £31.1m last year.

ClydeUnion’s total employee numbers rose from 1,484 to 1,643 during 2009. McColl’s overall empire employs more than 5,500.

McColl highlighted ClydeUnion’s growth in India, China and Brazil. He said growth had been achieved across the market sectors it serves, citing nuclear, oil and gas, and desalination plants.

McColl’s engineering empire has four bankers, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Barclays.

Asked how easy it was to obtain bank funding for deals, McColl replied: “I think it is okay. It is not as easy as it used to be. You have just to work hard and do it.”

McColl is working on a £15m acquisition of a pumps business in Houston, Texas, focused on the oil and gas sector. He said a lot of equity was being put into this deal, with the debt element small.