Power One shines light on ambitions

Power One boss Mark Ward said the investment would be used for working capital and to boost its headcount from its current 65 to up to 85, giving it the capacity to take on more contracts.

He revealed plans to open an office in the south-east of England, adding to its branches in Altrincham and Northumberland, and said the company was also mulling “bolt-on acquisitions” to broaden its geographical presence.

The talks with potential investors come as Mr Ward, a former Vodafone mobile communications specialist, said the business is on track to more than double turnover to £19m by 2021.

Power One, founded in 2004, reported a best-ever turnover of £7.8m in 2016, up from £4m the year before, with gross profit rising by 100 per cent to £1.6m. That came as the company landed a contract to replace 16,500 street lamps in Renfrewshire with more efficient LED lighting – the biggest deal of its type in Scotland last year.

The business, which provides mobile network infrastructure to remote areas around Scotland, is also currently installing 46,500 LED luminaries in Northumberland, and 22,000 in Manchester.

And it recently landed a deal to provide LED lighting for the new passenger pick-up and drop-off zone at Glasgow Airport, which is being constructed by Morgan Sindell.

Mr Ward said Power One was now at a crucial stage in its development, stating that a key objective in bringing in external investment is to help the business sustain its rapid growth. He said: “We have doubled our turnover consistently in the last three years and we are on course hopefully for doubling it again between ’17 and ’18. It is going fantastically well.

“We’re now in its position to potentially look for a partner, funder or VC to come on board to help us get to the next level. I’m still [the] 100 per cent shareholder, so it is a bit of a new journey and a bit of an emotional journey. [We are] just wondering what to do for the best for the business, the employees and myself as an individual but it’s great, it’s an exciting time.”

As well as attracting funding, Mr Ward did not rule out adding more expertise to its board with a further non-executive director. The company can already count on the experience and clout of Craig Forrest of Arup, who advises the UK Government on energy change policy. Mr Ward described Mr Forrest as a “big hitter who gives us a good bit of credibility”.

He added: “We could potentially look at expanding our board structure as well with maybe another non-exec.”

The company earns around 60 per cent of its revenue from local authority street lighting contracts in areas such as Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Argyll and Bute, and North and South Lanarkshire.

And Mr Ward revealed the company will be pitching for a £28m street lighting deal to be tendered by City of Edinburgh Council this summer. The project will involve the retrofit of 54,000 street lamps with LED lighting throughout the city, which he said would deliver a 75 per cent cut in energy consumption on the “assets” as well as a “massive carbon reduction” across the city.

Noting that Glasgow City Council has still to begin retrofitting its sodium street lighting in earnest, Mr Ward added: “There are one million street lights in Scotland, and the majority are to be swapped out.

“We’re currently just in the process of completing Renfrewshire’s LED [roll-out], which is 16,500 units, which has been great. We’re based in Renfrewshire so it’s great to be doing something for your local authority.”

Looking ahead, Mr Ward said the company plans to tender for work on the Bishopton bypass as part of the Glasgow City Deal, and communications work with Vodafone and Telefonica as part of the “smart cities” drive.

Mr Ward, whose company runs academies to help 16 to 24-year-olds into work in Paisley and Northumberland, said: “It’s all going well, but we need all the wheels in the cog to turn and the correct partner to come on board, which would be great.”