Livingston based spill containment specialist Empteezy® is pushing ahead with growth plans despite unease in the exporting market.
2017 has got off to a flying start for Empteezy® following another very successful year which also marked the company’s 30th anniversary.
Empteezy® now has over 200 staff and has reported a turnover of €90 million (£77 million) in the last three years. In 2016, exports from its UK manufacturing base increased by 18% versus 2015 and overall, turnover increased by 8% versus 2015. The outlook for 2017 is positive with plans to take on new apprentices this month and capitalise on international opportunities, especially in mainland Europe.
Founding director, Bruce Wishart, started the business in 1986 in a rented second world war Nissan hut at Broxburn with the first product which he designed himself. The product was a forklift attachment that could be used to easily empty waste into skips. Empteezy® was born and has continued to thrive and provide employment in Scotland ever since.
Commenting on Empteezy®’s milestone anniversary founding director Bruce Wishart said: “I started the business with a simple idea, having spotted a gap in the market. Here we are thirty years later and the business continues to go from strength to strength.
“I am grateful to the team, some of whom have been with me since the beginning. I am proud to still have a base in Scotland and take on apprentices to help them learn a trade. I am confident about 2017, we have a good team, a good pipeline of new products and we have built up our international sales team to capitalise on global opportunities.
“I know there is uncertainty following the Brexit vote but when you have been in business as long as I have, you learn to adapt to changing circumstances and Brexit is no different. We are certainly forging ahead with our plans.”
In 2016, Empteezy® traded internationally, producing a variety of spill containment products at four manufacturing plants across the UK and France which are sold globally. The company has seen a recent surge in demand for its products in Europe, especially in Germany where sales are up by 30% and where the company invested in a new sales warehouse this year.
Now located in Livingston, the 200-strong team comprised of engineers, business development, sales and factory specialists boast a strong staff retention rate with the longest serving employee, Alan Galloway, who has worked with the company for 27 years in the fabrication unit.
Under Wishart’s leadership, Empteezy® has continued to innovate and expand including building a network of sales warehouses across Europe and the acquisition of Delahaye Industries in 1999 and Schoeller Industries in 2003. Wishart also formed Romold Ltd, a rotational moulding company, in Scotland in 2002.
Today Empteezy® operates its own sales warehouses in Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Spain and the U.A.E. Empteezy® sells products worldwide including in Europe, Turkey, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the USA.
