Jim McColl - Thursday 25 October 2012
OBE, Chairman & Chief Executive, Clyde Blowers

There is so much opportunity

Jim McColl left school at 16 to take up an engineering apprenticeship with Weir Pumps at Cathcart in Glasgow.  After six years having studied part time for City & Guilds Ordinary National and Higher National Certificates, he left work to take up full time study at Strathclyde University for a BSc Degree in Technology and Business Studies.  After graduating with an Honours Degree in 1978 he returned to Weir Pumps where he remained for three years while studying part-time for a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

In 1992 after various senior management positions in engineering, completion of a second Masters Degree in International Accounting and Finance and a spell as a senior consultant with Coopers & Lybrand, Jim bought 29.9% of a small engineering company based in Glasgow. Turnover at that time was £4m.

Over the past 10 years Clyde Blowers as developed into a truly global portfolio of 90 companies in 30 different countries, employing 6000 people, with an annual turnover in excess of £1.35bn. These businesses are grouped under 5 holding companies, InterBulk, Clyde Bergemann, David Brown Gear Systems, David Brown Hydraulics and Moventas.

Jim will talk about how Clyde Blowers goes about identifying the global potential for its businesses and how it exploits the abundance of opportunities identified.