A Scottish engineering firm is set to expand after completing a financial deal with Clydesdale Bank

28/09/2011

Cormac Ltd, which specialises in the supply and installation of bitumen storage equipment to leading companies such as Tarmac and Bardon, has been provided with a £200,000 funding package to extend its workshop premises in Whitburn, West Lothian.

The new extension, which will increase the size of the existing workshop to 3,500 square feet, will provide a larger space for the company to manufacture its range of specialist products.  As a result, the company expects to increase its annual turnover by approximately 20% over the next three years.

Last year, Cormac reported its highest turnover to date of £2.7 million.  The business currently employs 26 staff in Whitburn and two members of staff overseas – one in Kenya and one in Ethiopia.  It expects to employ a further two people in Scotland after the extension completes in December. 

At present, Cormac Ltd supplies products to clients across the UK and in a number of overseas markets including Kenya, Spain, Ethiopia, Poland and Nigeria.

Andrew Farmer, business partner at Clydesdale Bank’s Lanarkshire Financial Solutions Centre has been working with the company since 2008.  He said: “Cormac Ltd has gone from strength to strength since it was established 16 years ago - it is a fantastic example of a small company that is continuing to trade well by supplying specialist products in the UK and in a number of overseas markets.

“When the company’s managing director, Steve Corbett, approached Clydesdale with a proposal to extend the business premises, the bank was happy to extend its support.

“We are looking forward to continuing to work with Cormac Ltd as it develops further over the long term.”

Managing Director of the family-run business, Steve Corbett, said: “We are really pleased to be building this new extension in order to increase our production capacity within the business. The building work has just commenced, and we could not have got to this stage without ongoing support from Clydesdale Bank.

“In looking to expand Cormac Ltd we felt it was important to work with the correct finance partner, and Clydesdale Bank had a lot to offer in supporting our ambitions for the future of the business.”

Clydesdale Bank’s Lanarkshire FSC comprises an experienced and diverse team encompassing corporate banking, business banking, private banking, asset finance and invoice finance across all sectors. It operates a traditional method of banking with funding from deposits used to support investments in the local community.

With a network of 16 Financial Solutions Centres in Scotland and 73 across the UK, Clydesdale Bank’s local banking model ensures that every pound deposited in the area is reinvested back into the local economy in the form of lending to Scottish businesses.