North-east oil and gas pipeline engineering specialist Stats Group is preparing for further international expansion after securing an additional £4.3million investment from the Business Growth Fund (BGF).
Bosses have also invested more cash in the business, which had an initial £7.8million of BGF funding in March 2012.
Since the initial deal, the firm has doubled its annual turnover to around £30million, created 145 new jobs and opened operational bases in Canada, the Middle East and US.
The additional growth capital is expected to fuel continued expansion – particularly in the US, where Stats opened a new facility in 2014 and recently won contracts worth more than £10million to provide intervention and isolation services to one of the largest energy infrastructure firms in North America.
BGF’s investment will also aid growth in the Middle East, where Stats – based in Kintore, Aberdeenshire – has pioneered the use of emergency isolation tools as an insurance policy against damage to vital pipeline infrastructure.
Simon Munro, BGF regional director Scotland, said: “Since our initial investment in 2012, the company has gone from strength to strength – doubling turnover, creating jobs and expanding globally.
“Follow-on investments are an important part of the BGF model. By supporting businesses that we know and have a proven track-record, we can help them to grow even further.”
Stats chief executive Pete Duguid added: “Simon and his team at BGF have been very supportive since our first investment. They have not just injected cash into the business but have also offered advice and support during our global expansion.”
Mr Duguid founded Stats in 1998 with his sister, Lorraine Porter. The company has since grown to employ 265 people at its head office in Kintore and other bases in Inverurie, Kendal, Canada, Malaysia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the US.
Last year, the firm invested £500,000 in opening a global training centre in Kintore to maintain and improve quality and competency standards through in-house specialist training.
Recent work carried out by the group has included isolating the Forties pipeline system, which transports more than one-third of the UK’s total oil production, on behalf of Apache North Sea so that a subsea isolation valve could be safely installed.
BGF is an independent company backed by five of the UK’s main banking groups: Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered.
It targets fast-growing, private companies with a turnover of between £5million and £100million, and invests between £2million and £10million per business in return for a minority equity stake and a seat on the board.
To date, it has invested more than £450million in 75 companies from a wide variety of sectors and regions of the UK.
Last year alone, it invested £214million in primary and follow-on equity investments – of which £43million was in Scotland.
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