Dundee furniture and fire doors manufacturer Dovetail Enterprises is “turning the corner” towards becoming a more sustainable trading business.
Executive chairman Ken Laing said the past year had seen the Dunsinane Industrial Estate-based group – a company limited by guarantee which employs a significant number of workers with limiting conditions – make real progress towards the stated goals set out in its five-year strategic plan.
New filings at Companies House show the group saw a 16.8% jump in sales to £3.18 million in the year to March 31, with the company moving into a break even trading position within the latter half of the year.
The group is forecasting sales of circa £4m in the current financial year.
Mr Laing said the group had switched its focus from low margin, low volume contracts towards larger projects that allow the factory to make economies of scale in the manufacturing process.
“We saw a higher growth in sales in the last year than we were anticipating,” Mr Laing said.
“We have been working hard on improving our margins and we are starting to see the benefits of that coming through.
“Certainly we saw it in the last quarter, but in the last six months of the year we were in a break even position.
“We are making progress an driving ourselves forward and we are starting to solidify the organisation.
“This year is a big year for us.”
The group has been working with the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS) to implement lean manufacturing methods across its operations to improve efficiency.
Mr Laing said Dovetail was applying the principles to new contracts, which include further work for the Apex hotels group after the group provided the furniure for a refit of Apex City Quay and another property .
He said Dovetail was also looking to build on the work it had done with public sector bodies including local authorities, housing associations, NHS Tayside and the Scottish Prison Service and he added that a partnership with Fife Council to manufacture fire doors had been a “huge bonus for us.”
Mr Laing said Dovetail – which employs 60 full-time equivalent staff, of which around 60% have a registered disability – was looking to maximise the supported employment and training opportunities it offered over the coming months.
The group recently took on a former manager from the recently closed Tayberry social enterprise group to help push that agenda.
Dovetail and Tayberry had previously worked together to provide work experience at its on-site catering service.