Scottish Leather Group increases turnover to £100m
The Scottish Leather Group, which owns Bridge of Weir Leather, has increased turnover by more than 54% to nearly £100 million.
The group, which also recently struck a 50-50 joint venture with Zibo Dahuanjiu Polygrace Tannery company in the Chinese province of Shandong, posted a 21.4% jump in pre-tax profits to £7.2 million for the year to the end of March, compared with £5.9 million previously.
The group comprises four leather manufacturing subsidiaries and a technology company, all located in the west of Scotland: Andrew Muirhead and Son; Bridge of Weir Leather Company; WJ & W Lang; NCT Leather and SLG Technology.
The accounts, which were obtained by Scottish newspaper The Herald Scotland, also note the company made an undisclosed “further investment” in the Zibo Polygrace Bridge of Weir Leather Company in Shandong, a finishing and cutting facility for leather produced at the company’s factory situated in Bridge of Weir.
Exports account for more 80% of the group’s turnover.
Chairman Jonathan Muirhead told the newspaper: “The increase in turnover can be directly attributed to growth in sales of quality low carbon leather to the premium automotive sector, including Jaguar, Land Rover and Ford Europe. Margins, however, have been squeezed by the higher cost of raw materials and are slightly down on last year.
“Since 2003, the group has been working on meeting the demands of our zero waste strategy, which has led to the design of our £6 million thermal energy plant, privately funded, which opened last year and is a world first for the leather industry.
“Our investment in technical innovation coupled with an investment in our employees insures that we have a sustainable future manufacturing in Scotland and exporting to over 60 countries around the world.”
