Windfall triples RTS turnover

A SCOTTISH forestry management firm that supplies woodchips to heat the Gleneagles hotel has tripled turnover to more than £9 million after securing contracts with a number of wind farm developers.

Crieff-based RTS, which was set up in 1984 by husband and wife team Alan and Heather Robbins, saw turnover rocket from around 3.5m in 2008 after deals to clear land for wind farms powered rapid growth.

Alan Robbins said the company was "bursting at the seams" and needed to move in order to take on staff, as its workforce expanded from 14 to 25.

"The growth has come from wind farms and the fact that we have developed expertise in that area. We have cleared trees to facilitate a number of large Scottish wind farms and are recognised as delivering these very important, time-constrained contracts on time," he said.

RTS, which was initially set up with a loan from a family member, prides itself on being ecologically friendly and commissioned its new premises on a previously derelict site using Scottish timber, ground source heating, and solar panels.

The company is also involved in woodfuel bio-mass development. It recently built a woodfuel processing depot just outside Crieff, and through this side of the business provides woodchips to local schools and Buccleuch Bioenergy's heating system at Gleneagles.

Robbins said the firm had moved into woodfuel as a way of marketing smaller pieces of timber which it was difficult to sell elsewhere.

RTS invested more than 1m in the woodfuel processor and its headquarters thanks to a loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland and a regional selective assistance grant from the Scottish Government. Robbins said that RTS would continue to grow and provide more jobs in the local area.

The firm has also benefiting from the high rate of the pound compared to other currencies, he said, as timber imports from abroad are proving more expensive.

Phillip Bolland, a relationship director at RBS, said: "These are undoubtedly more challenging economic times for the business community but we remain focused on funding the investment to help businesses across the country to develop and grow."