The sky's the limit for Scottish timber merchant

SCOTLAND: MGM Timber is flying the flag for Scotland this month, following end of year results which show the company to be the largest independent Timber Merchant in Scotland.

MGM achieved sales of £29.3m, with a pre tax profit of £721 000, putting the company ahead of all its independent competitors in Scotland, with the net returns even surpassing the performance of many large national competitors.

Turnover has remained steady at £30m throughout the recession, and unlike many businesses, MGM’s branches and employee numbers have increased over the last two years.

Managing director for MGM Timber, Mr Scott Cairns comments: “The downturn saw businesses downsizing rather than promoting their strengths, this I believe is the difference at MGM. Cost control was very important over the last two years, but most important was our determination to grow our market share, so we invested in sales personnel, opened two new branches and focused on giving our customers a service second to none.

“We have demonstrated to the market that we are capable of driving the business forward in all trading conditions, whilst ensuring that the customer always comes first. We are delighted with our results this year, and incredibly proud to be Scotland’s largest and most successful independent Timber Merchant.”

MGM has plans to further expand in Scotland, and aim to be the “local merchant of choice” in each of their locations across the country.

Mr Cairns explains: “Our geographical spread provides the opportunity to service clients Scotland wide. There is no secret in the fact that we aim to grow MGM further and are currently focusing on the Aberdeen area for our next branch.

“We see great opportunities to develop further in Scotland, and are determined to retain our position as the largest independent timber merchant north of the border. Having reached the ‘top of the tree’ in Scotland, it is not a position we intend to give up any time soon.”

Figures for this year are currently looking promising for the company, as trading is up by 22% for the same period of last year (April-June 2009-10), with net performance already well over this number for the same period.