Construction and farm machinery supplier Scot JCB has revealed it achieved record sales in the latest year
Good news for the plant equipment sector after Scot JCB announced it has seen record sales in the latest year.
According to Finance Director Stephen Barker, strong demand in the housebuilding sector and the wider construction market was behind the growth.
The news will undoubtedly be welcome by a sector that was facing uncertainty following the Brexit vote.
The firm said it thought its prospects and the outlook for the construction market on the whole was positive, given the need for new homes and the push for major infrastructure projects.
Barker said: “Brexit’s an issue but we’ve still got to build houses, roads and other infrastructure. I think on that side demand is going to be there.”
He said despite some sectors showing uncertainty after the vote—in particular the farming community—there had not yet been any cancelled orders. Furthermore, he said he expects the firm to see sales and profits grow, given the expected market conditions.
Scot JCB saw sales increase to £125m in 2015, rising from £117m when compared to the year before. Pre-tax profits fell a little from £4m to £3.8m in 2015, and the interest bill doubled to around £400,000 due to the investment made in buying stock in 2014.
The firm said: “Whilst the farmers have been under pressure from high costs and lower selling prices, we have seen strong demand for Loadalls and for the new JCB 4000 series tractor.”
Scot JCB also saw its staffing levels swell, increasing its average monthly number of employees from 213 to 231. An additional six service engineers were also taken on, and the total number of apprentices reached 31.
