Gael Force unveils ambitious expansion strategy
Aquaculture supplier Gael Force Group has announced new boardroom appointments and laid out a five-year expansion strategy to more than double both its sales and its 250-strong workforce.
The Inverness-based company has seen annual sales grow from £17.1 million in 2016 to £41.5m last year and expects a similar rate of growth over the next five years.
Sales director Jamie Young and production director Stephen Offord have both been promoted to the Gael Force Group board, and and will play key senior roles in driving the expansion strategy.
Finance director
Robert Foster has also joined Gael Force as finance director from oilfield services giant Halliburton.
Foster replaces Tim Philips, who is retiring after almost eight years with the company. Operations director Iain Forbes is also retiring, in September, after 20 years’ service.
Forbes said: “I am certain that the company will continue to go from strength to strength in the forthcoming years and that it is clearly in the very best of hands.
“I wish everyone at Gael Force Group all the very best in the next exciting chapter of the business.”
‘Tremendous legacy’
Gael Force managing director and owner Stewart Graham said: “Iain leaves behind a tremendous legacy in the aquaculture sector, to Argyll and the west coast of Scotland as well as a team and ownership which will see the company develop and grow further into the future. It truly feels like the end of one era and the beginning of another.”
The company has identified six key drivers for growth which it has placed at the core of its strategy: product innovation, manufacturing excellence, quality assurance, best-in-class service, sustainability, and export market development.
Graham said the “exemplary commitment and leadership” he had witnessed across the company during the challenging Covid-19 lockdown had meant that the business continued to perform strongly.
“We move forward with every confidence that our new strategic aims and ambitions to be world class, will provide us with a stronger footing to be even more competitive, more innovative and value adding to the market and uphold our reputation for being a trusted partner to our long-standing customers, both in Scotland, Canada and in our target export markets,” concluded the managing director.
