Company planning to take on 190 more workers
AN award-winning electrical firm is marking five years in business by planning a major expansion of its Scottish operations.
NES (North Electrical Services) Ltd is based in Inverness and Elgin and has already more than quadrupled its permanent workforce to 60 since setting up in 2012.
It is now targeting another four-fold increase to bring staff numbers up to 250 within the next five years, with a move into the central belt also proposed.
At the same time the company expects turnover to rise from between £3-4 million to around £12-15 million.
NES has added four new recruits already this year – three administrative staff and an estimator – as well as four new apprentice electricians. It will bring the total number of apprentices at Inverness and Elgin to 15.
NES’s services include industrial and commercial electrical installation and maintenance works, control and instrumentation, electric motor repair, overhaul and rewinding for clients including schools, offices, commercial premises, distilleries and fish processing plants.
Its workforce includes electricians, project engineers, estimators and a full-time health and safety manager, a post normally only found in much larger businesses.
NES managing director Kenny Duncan said widening its Scottish presence is a natural progression for the company. "There are still opportunities for us to grow in the north and north-east, but we also feel we can pursue other areas, like the central belt, and other sectors, such as energy and social housing," he said.
"If it goes as we expect it to go over the next four to five years we will quadruple the existing workforce and seek new projects we feel we’re well suited to. However, we will continue to be heavily focused on apprentices and people development, which has been very successful for us."
NES’s progress has been praised by Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey MP Drew Hendry.
"NES is a great success story, growing from a small company to one with 60 employees and with ambitious plans to develop significantly in the next five years," he said.
"The fact that growth has been driven by a desire to create opportunities for young people and on staff development makes the achieved and planned progress even more commendable."
