A Scottish manufacturing firm has reported strong sales figures and is targeting growth in markets around the world. Ellon-based LFH Engineering (www.lfhengineering.com) saw sales of £2.8 million for its 2016-17 financial year (to the end of March), an increase of 14% on the previous year’s figures.

With more than 30 employees in Ellon, the company specialises in the design and manufacture of diesel-engine coolant pumps, and it offers in-house pump repair and refurbishment services on all LFH, Pegson and Terex Powertrain pumps.

Around 75% of its business comes from overseas markets in Europe, North America and Asia, including the ship-repair and ship-building markets, the nuclear-energy sector and the locomotive industry.

CEO Les Hill said: “We’re very pleased to post strong sales figures this year, which reflects how much work we’ve been doing with existing clients and new customers over the last 12 months.

“Although the demand in the marine sector for new builds and repairs has been generally quiet, we have done well with several projects in Asia and are beginning to see encouraging signs of improvement in other areas.

“Activity is beginning to pick up again in several regions, supporting a healthier order book for the year ahead. Recent meetings with some of our customers have been more encouraging, and several long-term projects are under way.”

Working closely with Scottish Enterprise, LFH Engineering has recently applied to register trademarks in the UK, Europe and China. In addition, a lot of work has been done on the firm’s sales strategy with a view to creating “a more distributor-driven model for the after-market”.

Mr Hill added: “We’ve also been working hard to improve our facilities and enhance the level of service we can offer on design, quality control and production.

“We are currently investing a five-figure sum to upgrade our workshop in Ellon. This will result in a new lay-out that will help to improve our production efficiency and create a more streamlined manufacturing process.”