Forestry engineering company is looking for growth partners

Business Opportunity- A Scottish entrepreneur is seeking new partners to help grow the forestry engineering business he launched 34 years ago and take it to the next stage of development.

Fergus Mitchell left his job as a workshop foreman at an agricultural equipment dealership to join an established forestry engineering firm. But after two years, when his new employer went out of business, the former time-served mechanic found himself seeking work.

80,000 Hours

That’s a remarkable amount of work hours for a single machine, the Norcar 600 owned by Erkki Rinne is taken well care of, it even has the original Diesel engine.
Kieran Anders Forestry

Kieran Anders is a forestry contractor working in the lake district. His work involves hand cutting and extracting timber using a skidder and tractor-trailer forwarder.
Promoting safety in the workplace

It is not possible to eliminate chain shot, but there are simple steps that can be taken to reduce the risk.
Glasfryn Fencing and Sawmill

Arwel takes great pride in the fact that the mill has no waste whatsoever, “the peelings are used for children’s playgrounds, gardens and for farm animals in barns in the winter and the sawdust has multiple uses in gardens and farms as well.
Keeping Timber Hauliers Safe

Timber hauliers need to encourage young blood in, and also look after the hauliers we have, we need make the sector a safe and positive place to work.

FIND US ON

“Losing my job was unexpected but I’d always dreamt of being self-employed – now it was make or break time,” said Fergus, founder of PM Forest & Field Engineering in Perthshire. “I decided to go out on my own.”

He began by continuing the sales and servicing of forestry equipment – harvesters that cut trees into lengths, forwarders that carry timber to the roadside, and lorries that take it to their destination, then selling, installing and servicing ‘on vehicle’ weighing equipment manufactured in West Yorkshire.

The business grew steadily on the back of Scotland’s transport and growing forestry sector, which generates £1.1 billion earnings and supports more than 34,000 jobs, and burgeoning demand for accurate, on-vehicle weighing. Now PMFFE employs six people from its workshop and offices in Blairgowrie and is set to achieve £2.5 million turnover this year.

The profitable company has also branched out into providing equipment for and servicing lorries, vans and waste collection vehicles; it operates in Scotland, parts of the UK and Ireland.

“We are growing year on year and the business is set fair for continued expansion,” said Fergus Mitchell. “We’re looking for someone to come in and continue with the investment and dedication needed to capitalise on the progress we’ve made to date, to take the operation to the next stage.”