It is just over eight years since Bob Drummond stood in front of the staff at Hydrasun and, brimming with enthusiasm, outlined his vision for the business.
Two slides in particular had the sceptics in the audience raising their eyebrows.
One showed the view from his office window of a cluttered yard and beside it was a drawing of the building he hoped would become the Hydrasun headquarters of the future.
The other was a map of the UK which highlighted the locations at which Hydrasun did business and beside it was a map of the world showing how, by the end of 2012, he hoped the company would be operating around the globe.
With still almost two years to his deadline and sitting in his office in the new £12million headquarters at Aberdeen Gateway, Altens, Mr Drummond revealed that Hydrasun now exported to more than 50 countries.
He may have achieved what he set out to do in 2002, but his enthusiasm is undiminished as he looks forward to the company’s plans for the next 10 years.
Mr Drummond was a veteran of the international oil and gas industry and chief executive of Maersk UK when he led a management buy-in of Hydrasun which had built up a strong reputation, primarily as a supplier of specialist hoses, fittings and related products over more than quarter of a century.
There were 240 staff and annual turnover was about £25million.
Now, there is more than double the staff and turnover has almost trebled.
Mr Drummond said: “Hydrasun has always been a close-knit community where everybody pulls together and employees go that extra mile for the good of the company and their colleagues. There is still a family atmosphere here which is something we have worked hard at.
“We are heading towards a record year and we are using this move and facility as a springboard for the new decade. It is brilliant to be here but we now have to be even more brilliant in terms of where we are taking the company, our standards of service and our support to customers to create a turning point for the next decade.”
After five years of topline growth averaging just over 21%, turnover fell by about 3% for the 12 months to April last year, a period Mr Drummond described as challenging, but the firm is back on track for double-digit growth this year. He said: “The biggest change in the recession from an oil and gas-industry point of view was the significant reduction in the capex (capital expenditure) side of the market, to which Hydrasun has a limited exposure.
“The steady-state nature of much of the opex (operating expenditure) business and also the geographic spread of Hydrasun carried us through that period relatively well.
“We chose not to make any drastic cost reductions through the somewhat choppy waters of the period and made no fundamental changes. We didn’t stop recruiting, we didn’t stop our own capital investment and we didn’t stop our training and development programme for the staff.”
At the end of 2008, and at the height of the recession, the company also made the decision in principal to move to a new complex, however, delaying the start of the process by a year proved to be a smart economic move.
Mr Drummond said: “Good planning and a bit of good luck came together. The commercial-property market collapsed and by deferring our actual decision we were able to negotiate very attractive terms which made it even easier to make the decision.”
There were compelling reasons for the move from the company’s previous two locations in King Street and Links Place.
The new complex will allow improvements in operational efficiency and team working but the move is also the catalyst for a new chapter of growth and internationalisation and will provide the capacity for that in addition to changing the perception of the company in the eyes of customers.
The chief executive said: “Hopefully, they will see the investment we are making not just in the building and the infrastructure. In addition to the new facilities we have invested £2million on production and manufacturing equipment, IT systems and training facilities.
“It is very much targeted on developing the business with existing customers but also supporting expansion through new customers and new geographies.”
When Mr Drummond took over the helm, 95% of Hydrasun’s business was on the UK continental shelf, but now about one-third is international with operations throughout Europe, the Caspian region, Africa and the Americas. To date, almost all growth has been organic but the CEO believes the company now has the maturity and the depth of management experience to make significant acquisitions and two deals are “well advanced”.
He said both were likely to be completed within months and one was for a “mini Hydrasun” in Brazil, which will open up the market there and the other was a specialist subsea applications company in the UK. Combined, they are likely to increase turnover by about one-third in the first year.
In 2002, Hydrasun was fundamentally about distribution but has evolved into a developer, manufacturer and service operator.
Mr Drummond is now almost a local having moved with his family from Glasgow to Aberdeen as a nine-year-old in 1964 amid the infamous typhoid outbreak. He said: “I still remember having to get my inoculations.”
Aberdeen has been the base for much of his career since then, although he moved to London when he worked for Maersk and he and wife Alice retain a home there. His son, Ross, is studying philosophy at King’s College in London.
In what little spare time he can find Mr Drummond has a passion for music, loves to play the guitar and is fanatical about keeping fit.
His love of health and fitness is reflected in the support his company gives to sporting initiatives.
He visits the gym regularly and skis as much as possible in winter.
Later this year he will lead a Hydrasun charity cycle of about 250 miles from Cape Wrath to Aberdeen, but says that for once, given his seniority, he might not be leading from the front.
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