Fresh jobs hope for revitalised Easter Ross firm rising from ashes after shock collapse
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AN award-winning Easter Ross firm whose dramatic collapse with the loss of 40 jobs stunned the local community is rising from the ashes under a new guise with eyes on potential contracts worth up to £500,000.
Carbon Dynamic Scotland (CDS) is pointing to a strong order book since the business and assets of the Invergordon-based timber modular building firm which collapsed in December were snapped up by another local company.
The Pat Munro (Alness) subsidiary has so far reinstated 13 of the 40 workers.
And operations manager Mark Bramley said the local, national and international contracts in his sights could boost the workforce even further.
He said: "We pushed really hard to get as many of those skilled workers in the door as fast as possible and we have re-established close working relationships with the supply chain that Carbon Dynamic used.
"It's good to bring back some stability after what has been a really unfortunate period."
CDS’s first project, for Marine Harvest Scotland, is a £600,000 contract to build staff accommodation facilities on the island of Rum.It is being purpose-built in Invergordon and shipped out to the island in phases.
Mr Bramley revealed other contracts being targeted could be worth up to £500,000. He said: "We are likely to want to up-resource again so we would be looking to take on additional staff, another half dozen or so I would guess, but it's difficult to say.”
Mr Bramley, who has been working for Pat Munro (Alness) for the last 18 years, believes the diversity of his company, one of the largest privately owned contractors operating in the Highlands, has steered it through choppy waters.
Invergordon-based Cromarty Firth councillor Maxine Smith, said: "The news that Pat’s have been able to reinvest in the former workforce is very welcome and I wouldn’t have expected anything less from a firm who prides itself on taking care of its workers.
"It has always been a employee-friendly workplace. I am also sure that with their skills in housing production, they will make a good go of Carbon Dynamic and I am so pleased that a local family-run business has taken it over. I am sure it won’t be long before they are expanding their workforce as they get more and more contracts."
Carbon Dynamic played a part developing high-tech buildings which help people with complex health needs to live independently thanks to smart equipment used for remote monitoring and had been seen as a firm with a bright future before the shock collapse.
The housing development it helped design in conjunction with NHS Highland and Albyn Housing at Dalmore in Alness was given a major vote of confidence as the way forward to provide independent living for people with complex healthcare needs. A resident there described the housing as "life-changing".
It received a £400,000 investment from Centrica Innovations to push forward its work manufacturing low-cost, energy efficient modular buildings.
The firm's administrator cited cashflow difficulties and challenging trading conditions when it went under at the tail end of last year.
Easter Ross MP Jamie Stone said at the time he had been "greatly impressed" by the work carried out at Carbon Dynamic which was "cutting-edge and a real eye-opener as to what can be done with clever design for housing and accommodation".
