SPECIALIST publisher Witherbys, one of Scotland’s largest publishing houses with a portfolio of over 500 titles, has achieved sales turnover of £10 million as it marks its tenth anniversary of ownership under husband-and-wife team Iain Macneil and Kat Heathcote.

The Livingston-based firm, which publishes training, reference and regulatory materials for the shipping, insurance and energy industries, merged with Seamanship International, another specialist publisher previously founded by Mr Macneil, in 2008.

Established in 1740, Witherbys is the oldest independent publisher in the English-speaking world and this week releases a newly-revised edition of a marine industry standard text on electronic charting for ships – the 300th book the firm has published in the last 10 years.

Mr Macneil, chief executive, said the firm had weathered the storm of a challenging few years in the shipping industry. “With a long development cycle in our technical publication portfolio and a strong team, we have maintained consistent, steady growth,” he said.

“With a number of high-profile projects coming to fruition over the next 12 months we expect the business to report sales of £12m next year.”