Angus engineering group Hydrus has toasted its decision to move away from the oil capital of Aberdeen as it seeks to satisfy growing order books by recruiting more fabricators and apprentices.
The firm based at Brechin’s Coventry Gauge Estates after relocating from Dyce 18 months ago is now looking to add 10 new members of staff to its 35-strong workforce as it continues to attract more business to its manufacturing facility.
It says its proximity to Montrose Harbour is attracting clients keen to avoid log-jammed port access in the Granite City.
Hydrus booked a turnover of more than £3.5 million for the year to October 2012. It works with oil and gas operators, service companies and manufacturers and offers its customers a turnkey service for design, manufacture and commissioning.
It is also looking to make the most of growing opportunities in renewables, particularly wave and tidal, and has worked on pilot projects for developers in the emerging technologies.
Managing director Martin Anderson said the move to Brechin after a decade in the north-east had allowed the company to bring all operations together on one site, close to flexible deep-water access.
Now engineering, fabrication, machining, waterjet cutting, assembly and testing are all combined on a site known to generations of Brechiners as the Matrix.
“We had reached a point where we needed more space to grow our business and, in the absence of suitable premises in Aberdeen, we decided to move to Brechin due to its excellent infrastructure, including the ever-expanding deep-water facilities at Montrose Harbour,” Mr Anderson said.
“Whilst we still have a presence in Aberdeen, the decision to move continues to pay dividends as we are now able to manufacture much larger packages of equipment in Brechin then capitalise on our excellent proximity to great road links to Aberdeen or Montrose.”
The company has recently completed its biggest project to date, a 60-tonne exhaust system manufactured in Brechin and assembled on the quayside at Montrose.
The project also marked a first for the flourishing port, which enjoys a dedicated area for similar projects. Mr Anderson said his clients were “very open” to using Montrose Harbour in preference to packed Aberdeen.
“Aberdeen Harbour is out of space and people are looking for more space,” he said. “And the facilities are right there at the harbourside in Montrose. It’s going very well clients are coming back for more and more.
“That’s the whole point of us being down here. We’re offering the Aberdeen market the chance to have something made in Brechin and loaded out of Montrose.”
Montrose Port Authority chief executive John Paterson said Hydrus had shown how an “efficient and imaginative” company could use the harbour facilities.
“The success of this quayside project was of benefit to the port, the contractor and the end customer,” he said.