Weathering the storm during turbulent times

The Scotsman 250 report for 2003 – despite that slow-down – flags up an impressive number of companies which have shown great resilience, not only to weather the current economic climate, but to position themselves well for future of strong growth.

The Scotsman 250 highlights some of the success stories, trends and changes that have occurred in Scottish business in the past year and serves an accurate barometer to the health of our economy.

There are no great surprises with regard to the main industry in Scotland – financial services remains dominant, producing some 47 per cent of the total turnover of Scotland top 250 companies.

The strong players in the market continue to perform well in the face of economic uncertainty, although this has affected firms in a number different ways, which is evident from this year’s rankings.

Some of last year’s entries are conspicuous by their absence. Big names like Clydeport, First Engineering, Stiell and Burn Stewart Distillers were all acquired during the past year and no longer meet the criteria, as they are not solely Scottish-based or have their group HQ in Scotland.

In line with our criteria, subsidiary companies and those with group headquarters not in Scotland have been excluded. Ranking has been based on annual turnover. In spite of the tough economic backdrop, we’ve seen companies thriving. Companies such as Snowie Holdings, which increased turnover from 17 million to 56m, enter The Scotsman 250 for the first time along with other impressive movers such as Letts Filofax Group with an increase in turnover from 17m to 40m.

Another impressive first timer is Aberdeen-based Specialised Petroleum Services International, which has increased turnover by 304 per cent over the past year. Beyond the top 20 there continues to be an undercurrent of healthy activity. This is illustrated by a number of significant changes to this year’s listing, which now includes companies such as Wood Mackenzie, the management buyout from Deutsche Bank; Fife-based Curtis Fine Paper; and the buyout of Glenvarigill Group from Drambuie.

There have also been some dropouts from last year’s list, including Foulds Group, which was sold in 2002 following four-way MBO of the four constituent companies.

Deloitte & Touche would like to congratulate all the companies that make up the listing and the significant contribution they continue to make to our overall economic well-being. In what has been a challenging year, it’s heartening to see more than 70 per cent of the companies included have managed to increase turnover year-on-year. Hopefully we can now look forward to continued stories of growth and greater economic certainty.

• David Shearer is a senior partner of Deloitte & Touche Scotland and Northern Ireland.