Highland firm shows its metal; For one Scottish galvaniser, expansion

Geoff Crowley regularly gnashes his teeth as he drives around the streets of Scotland. The sight of rusty, corroded handrails, street lamp poles, signs and crash barriers is a source of constant frustration to the New Zealander.

As director of Highland Metals, one of only several galvanisers left in Scotland, he is convinced that local authorities are missing a trick in reducing their maintenance costs for steel infrastructure around the country.

With only 4% of steel in the country galvanised, the UK lags behind many of its European counterparts in terms of consumption of galvanised steel per capita and props up the league table with Spain.

"One thing we find is that there is a resistance to change," he says. "People get stuck in 'we have always done it this way'.

"Councils have whole teams of painters painting handrails around the streets. They could have them done every 30 years and continue maintenance free for their whole life rather than have them painted every three years."

The tide seems to be gradually turning, however, and Highland Metals has enjoyed a period of growth set against an acute downturn in the metalbashing industries.

The Elgin-based firm recently opened a new 27,000sqft factory at Blairlinn in Cumbernauld having received a (pounds) 600,000 Regional Selective Assistance grant. The new facility, under the name Highland Galvanizers, combines a state-of-the-art galvanising facility with a new powder coating operation.

Forty jobs have been created by the company at Cumbernauld and Crowley has overseen the setting up of the new facility, designed to move the company closer to its main markets in the central belt and cut out a 400-mile round trip for customers.

"We used to have five artics running between Glasgow and Elgin and we were quite successful in competing with companies down here," adds Crowley. "It put pressure on our turnaround time so we reduced that as much as we could but three days was the quickest we could do it. The only way forward was to build a plant closer to the population."

Galvanising is a 150-year-old industry and the emphasis has shifted over the years from galvanising sheet steel to applying the process to corrosion protection for steel fabrications.

These days the products include anything from machine parts and park benches to gates and supermarket cages. Highland Metals retains the flexibility required to deal with small or even one-off orders up to bulk requirements.

After establishing a central belt presence, the company saw adding a powder coating capability as the final string to its bow in tackling the three main barriers for many potential customers.

Market research showed that galvanising was viewed as too expensive, as taking too long and not providing steelworks in the right colour.

Crowley argues that in practical terms the cost is roughly on a par with a two-coat painting system and that it lasts 10 times as long. Through its Xpress operation, based on the business model of 24- hour photo processing, Highland Metals offers a similar service for galvanising. With the powder coating system customers can choose other colours than the zinc coating effect made during the galvanising process.

With mounting environmental pressure on the painting industry to move away from volatile organic compounds and reduce the levels of solvents that enter the atmosphere, Crowley is a firm advocate of powder coating.

"Powder coating doesn't have any solvent, it is a superior coating, is harder, comes in as many colours and can even give textures," he explains. "We have got to do it in a factory so people are getting a sense of security that this is a factory-controlled process with good quality."

Highland Metals was founded in 1976 in Elgin with support from the then Scottish Development Agency. The business grew slowly, servicing the north east of Scotland and opened a plant in Aberdeen providing specialist surface coatings for steel and other metals, such as nickel and gold plating, and non-metallic coatings such as xylon and PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), the non-stick coatings used for frying pans.

Forty people are now employed at Highland Metals' Elgin base, where it retains its senior management and administrative functions, and 20 people in Aberdeen. Turnover has remained steady for the last five years at about (pounds) 4 million and the company expects the Cumbernauld facility will help it increase profitability.

Crowley joined Highland Metals eight years ago after a globetrotting career in the steel industry. From New Zealand, which has "half the population of Scotland but 13 galvanising plants", he moved to Australia and then left, because it was "too hot", for Iceland where he spent three years before coming to Scotland in 1991.

He is due back behind his desk in Elgin by Christmas, having appointed managers Mike Harty and Brent Gould to run the powder coating and galvanising divisions in Cumbernauld.

Crowley is scheduled to take over as managing director of Highland Metals from Mike Parkinson when he retires next year and is very pleased at the initial progress made at the Cumbernauld facility.

"It has certainly exceeded our expectations. We used to look at the central belt as our southern periphery but now the north of England is our southern periphery and we have new customers there."

The fabricated steel sector has remained fairly strong despite the trough in manufacturing and engineering and although the downturn has affected Highland Metals it has been shielded from its worst ravages.

The last documented figures for the year ending December 2001 show the tonnage of galvanised steel in Scotland grew by 14%, a sharp rise from its previous rate of 3-4% growth.

"While the amount of steel being manufactured has decreased, the percentage of that steel being galvalised is increasing so our business is growing," he adds.

Crowley is quietly confident in the future of galvanising in Scotland. His enthusiasm for the industry is never far from the surface and with steel galvanised by Highland Metals being used in the roof beams of the new Scottish parliament building he believes the message is starting to get through.

Geoff Crowley says galvanising has a bright future Photograph: David Gillanders

Copyright 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.