JBS Group picked up the Going Global award at this year's Northern Star Business Awards, and were presented the title by sponsors Aberdeen International Airport.
JBS Group is a North-east success story with 60% of its sales coming from international markets.
It is based in Peterhead and clients include NASA, Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos), SpaceX (Elon Musk), the European Space Agency, the Ministry of Defence, the US Navy, Shell and Total Energies.
The multi-disciplined engineering business has contracts in 80 countries from Algeria to Azerbaijan, from Peru to the Philippines and from Venezuela to Vietnam.
JBS patented products include the Sea Axe which is both the most advanced controlled flow subsea excavation system and environmentally friendly solution on the market. It is on average three times more efficient than similar products.
Another is the JBS Stop Break Screw Conveyor which stops almost immediately (0.2 seconds), providing greater health and safety benefits than others which take a few seconds.
In the five years since managing directors Mike McCafferty, Alex Whyte and Stan Green purchased the company, when there was no international work, turnover has risen 290% from £2.3million to £6.7million.
Turnover for the year just ended was on track to achieve £10million.
JBS Group is the global leader for screw conveyors in the oil and gas industry with the largest share of the market. All operations across the four divisions are run from its Peterhead facility. As well as providing jobs in the area it contributes significantly to community life through numerous sponsorships.
Its strategy to develop the business is to increase awareness of its products and services, specifically in the US and the Middle East, by attending exhibitions to build relationships and engage with firms.
Huge opportunities have been identified in the US, particularly in the renewables sector and there are also opportunities in Taiwan and Australia where JBS is looking for strategic partners.
The JBS team networks, engages and collaborates with industry contacts to discover client issues and offer solutions.
They also monitor news and industry publications and update their database with contacts and relevant projects. The team then maps out potential clients and makes direct approaches – confident they are likely to be able to provide solutions. The management team at JBS has extensive international expertise and has worked tirelessly to enhance the skill sets of the team to respond to client demands.
During CV19, JBS continued to invest in training and supporting the next generation – 10 of the 42 staff are apprentices and there are plans to recruit more.
The finalists
The other finalists in the category were:
- Collabro
- Craig International
- Load Monitoring Systems Limited (LMS)
- Schoolhill Hydraulic Engineering Co Ltd
Click here to view the finalists video.
About the sponsor
Aberdeen International Airport is owned by AGS Airports Limited. The airport is the north-east of Scotland’s major transport hub and is a vital economic driver for the region, contributing more than £110million a year to the local economy. It is the gateway to Europe’s energy capital and is Europe’s busiest commercial heliport. Aberdeen International Airport supports 3,400 jobs across the North-east of Scotland.