Notts manufacturer expands Scottish business

The team at the Scottish office of a Nottinghamshire company has trebled in little over a year following a string of project wins.

A1 Flue Systems – which is based in Ollerton, and designs, manufactures and installs commercial and industrial chimney, flue and exhaust systems – says it has seen its fortunes surge in Scotland following two key appointments at the end of 2015, which have been the platform for growth from its offices in Motherwell.

Former workmates Stuart Henderson and Stuart Craigon joined as area sales manager and contract engineer respectively, and the duo have masterminded the growth, which has led to four new appointments in the last 12 months – including the latest one of Jamie Gillion as an apprentice installer.

A1 Flue Systems director TJ Duncan-Moir said that the company has had an office in Scotland for more than a decade but the appointment of the pair set the company off on a new path, which is starting to pay dividends because the company has been able to re-establish its credentials and capabilities and win lots of new contracts as a result.

“We have always recognised the opportunities in Scotland, and we have finally been able to put in place a hungry and dynamic team that share our passion, pride, precision and excellence in commercial flue and chimney systems,” said Duncan-Moir.

“And this is reflecting well in the size and scope of the contracts we are securing in both the public and private sectors.”

A1 Flues has won a raft of contracts to design, manufacture and install systems for schools, offices, hotels and public buildings – which has led to the appointment of Stephen O’Donoghue as an Estimator and Gerry Watson and John McBride as installers.

Henderson said that trading in Scotland is very competitive but the team at Motherwell have already seen higher than expected levels of repeat business.

“The Scotland office is already a couple of years ahead of where the directors expect the level of business to be, and they continue to back us and invest to increase our market share,” he said.

“We do have strong competition in Scotland, but being part of a business that employs nearly 150 people means that we can draw on unparalleled levels of support from the engineers and estimators at A1’s head office – as well as the team that manufacture our flues and chimneys – which means we can offer solutions on projects where other companies simply can’t. And this is what is fuelling our growth in Scotland.

“We’re already at full capacity at our Motherwell office, so if growth continues at this pace, we are going to have to move to larger premises.”