Dundee-based ATL, a turbine component repair specialist, has joined Sharing in Growth (SiG), the Government-backed national productivity programme.

The company was selected for SiG, which helps aerospace supply-chain companies to be more competitive, after completing a 12-week diagnostic check on whether it was ready to compete for a larger share of the £4 billion UK aero-engine maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market.

With support from SiG, the 30-year-old company plans to secure sales of around £20 million by 2022 by improving its operational and shopfloor efficiency, investing in recruitment and training, and upgrading its back office and production support systems.

ATL (www.atlturbineservices.co.uk), which is part of the Foresight Group, employs 65 people, and its aerospace, defence and industrial-turbine customers include Rolls-Royce, Siemens, MTU, Alba Power and Iberia.

Its plans involve winning new customers, doing more work for its existing customer base, and potentially doubling its workforce in the next five years.

Following a downturn in business in 2015 after the decommissioning of the RAF’s Tornado fighter jets, the company has made a good recovery, achieving a turnover of more than £5 million in 2017.

Kerr Picken, ATL’s CEO (pictured), said: “We are on an upward curve and have set ourselves a really ambitious sales target, because there is huge opportunity in the MRO market.

“With SiG’s support, we are confident that we can continue to improve our operational performance, efficiency and cost reduction to secure new business and new jobs.”

SiG individually tailors an integrated programme of training, coaching and mentoring for ambitious companies like ATL.

This is delivered by a 120-strong team of business coaches, as well as experts from the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing, Deloitte, the Industry Forum and the National Physical Laboratory.

Andy Page, SiG’s CEO, said: “We are delighted to welcome ATL onto our programme and to help them achieve their ambitions in the highly competitive MRO market.

“Since its inception in 2013, SiG has delivered more than two million training hours and worked with more than 60 companies to transform their business strategy, operational performance and skills.”