Turnbull & Scott Engineering receives £100k boost from South of Scotland Enterprise

Engineering company Turnbull & Scott have secured a £100k grant from the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund (PERF) to help them recover from the impact of COVID-19.

Based in the Scottish Borders, Turnbull & Scott are UK experts in Industrial Heat Transfer. For over 80 years they have been applying their knowledge and expertise in heat transfer to provide heat exchange solutions and heater products across many industries including energy, nuclear, chemical, food & drink and pharmaceuticals as well as the public and commercial sectors.

Covid-19 had a significant impact on the business, and this resulted in an immediate reduction of sales of commercial and electrical heaters by around 90%. Despite this, they remained open to help customers in essential industries (power generation, food processing & packaging) even though they were only operating on 30% of normal volumes. It was clear to the business this would not be viable in the long term, and they needed some help.

Peter Murphy, Managing Director of Turnbull & Scott said: “The Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund has been a great boost for us. Before the pandemic came, we wanted to recruit several positions, but we were quickly resigned to recruitment being put in the back burner, by possibly up to two years.

“The grant we have received has radically changed that situation, and we are now able to hire and train two new members of staff. We are also looking at restarting our apprenticeship programme again, which would be great news for young people in the community.

“To be a company hiring during this crisis is great feeling and it will hopefully benefit some people who may have lost their jobs as a result of the crisis.”

Professor Russel Griggs OBE, Chair of South of Scotland Enterprise said:  “We are delighted we could make this award to Turnbull & Scott and help them on their road ahead.

“We understand this has been a hugely challenging time for many small and medium-sized businesses across the South of Scotland, and as the enterprise agency for the South of Scotland we are committed to doing everything we can to provide support wherever it is needed.

“The creation of job opportunities for local people will be an invaluable contribution in rebuilding our communities and businesses.

“I personally look forward to seeing Turnbull & Scott prosper, and I thank them for their individual contribution to their community.”

The Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund was been created for SME businesses that play a critical role in supporting Scotland's economic recovery following the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak but need some immediate support.

You can now view the full list of businesses that we helped in the South of Scotland.