Who are Scotland's fastest growing renewable companies?
Examining the growth firms of the Scottish Renewables 50
The biggest companies in Scotland's renewables supply chain are not the ones doing the growing.
SSE's turnover edged up 0.5 per cent to £10.19bn in its latest year and ScottishPower UK's slipped 1 per cent to £6.52bn.
The momentum is further down the ranking, where the 10 fastest-growing businesses added almost £290m of turnover between them, a combined rise of 29 per cent.
Flotation Energy, the Edinburgh-registered offshore wind developer, leads the list, more than doubling turnover from £8.7m to £18.8m.
Earls Gate Energy Centre, a combined heat and power plant, also doubled, from £16.4m to £33.9m.
Ellon-based Film-Ocean is third, up 66.3 per cent to £28.6m, followed by network owner Last Mile Electricity, which grew 55.6 per cent to £83.6m.
Seven of the 10 turn over less than £100m with the exceptions being Helix Robotics Solutions, up 39.9 per cent to £163.5m, Ross-shire Engineering, up 19.4 per cent to £307m, and Scotland Gas Networks, which added £83m in a year to reach £469m.
Much of the growth is being earned overseas as three of the 10 fastest growers are also among the 10 biggest exporters.
Helix, which operates remotely operated vehicles, tops the export table because all £163.5m of its turnover is classed as export sales.
So is all £70.4m at subsea equipment maker Forum Energy Technologies (UK), which grew 22.3 per cent. Aurora Energy Services sold £56.8m abroad, 62 per cent of its turnover.
Film-Ocean ranks 12th for exports, but its overseas sales almost doubled, from £9.7m to £18.2m, and its newest vehicle is bound for long-term work in Angola.
Exports are concentrated in a few hands as only 18 of the 50 companies report any export sales, totalling £831.3m.
Glasgow-registered Howco Group is second on £113m, followed by Aberdeen's STATS (UK), on £95.2m over a 65-week period, and DOF Subsea UK on £91.7m.
Another 16 report none and 16 give no figure, SSE and ScottishPower UK among them.
Growth has not always meant profit with three of the 10 fastest growers losing money.
Earls Gate £16.4m before tax, Aurora £10.1m and Flotation £3.8m.
Flotation's headcount rose from 102 to 150, Aurora's turnover rose 34 per cent to £91.6m as its workforce climbed from 372 to 460, and its new Integrated Services division alone is targeting £100m by 2028.
Others grew and earned with Helix making £42.5m before tax, a margin of 26 per cent, with 49 employees.
Last Mile Electricity made £22m and Scotland Gas Networks £78m. Ross-shire Engineering made £27.8m while adding 182 staff to reach 1,724. Seven of the 10 added staff over the year.
Figures come from each company's latest filed accounts, with year ends running from June 2024 to March 2026.
Location
Aberdeen city and shire: 21 (42.0%)
Glasgow and the west: 13 (26.0%)
Edinburgh and Lothians: 8 (16.0%)
Tayside, Fife and central: 5 (10.0%)
Highlands and south: 3 (6.0%)
PIE 2: Share of combined turnover
SSE: £10,186.5m (45.1%)
ScottishPower UK: £6,516.0m (28.8%)
NEO Next+ Energy: £1,578.6m (7.0%)
The other 47: £4,326.3m (19.1%)
Financial performance
Made a profit: 38 (76.0%)
Made a loss: 12 (24.0%)
Top 10 exporters Export sales in latest accounts, £m, with share of turnover
- Helix Robotics Solutions (Aberdeen): £163.5m (100% of turnover)
- Howco Group (Glasgow): £113.0m (74%)
- STATS (UK) (Aberdeen): £95.2m (90%)
- DOF Subsea UK (Aberdeen): £91.7m (78%)
- Forum Energy Technologies (UK) (Aberdeen): £70.4m (100%)
- Rosyth Royal Dockyard (Dunfermline): £62.0m (18%)
- Aurora Energy Services (Aberdeen): £56.8m (62%)
- PD & MS Energy (Aberdeen) (Glasgow): £34.1m (33%)
- East Mediterranean Energy Services (Edinburgh): £33.6m (100%)
- CCL Energy Group (Glasgow): £31.7m (33%)
CHART 2: Fastest growing turnover growth on the previous year
- Flotation Energy: +116.4% (£8.7m to £18.8m)
- Earls Gate Energy Centre: +106.3%
- Film-Ocean: +66.3%
- Last Mile Electricity: +55.6%
- Helix Robotics Solutions: +39.9%
- Aurora Energy Services: +34.0%
- Forum Energy Technologies (UK): +22.3%
- Scotland Gas Networks: +21.5%
- MP Group UK: +19.4%
- Ross-shire Engineering: +19.4%
Who banks the sector
Bank Companies Largest by turnover
HSBC 7 ASCO UK
Bank of Scotland 4 DOF Subsea UK
Lloyds Bank 2 NEO Next+ Energy
Royal Bank of Scotland 2 Rosyth Royal Dockyard
Santander UK 2 STATS (UK)
Barclays 1 Saltire Facilities Management
Bank of America 1 Helix Robotics Solutions
Deutsche Bank 1 Ithaca Energy (UK)
NatWest 1 Sureserve Energy Services UK
JPMorgan Chase 1 Forum Energy Technologies (UK)
Clydesdale Bank 1 Three60 EPCC
Svenska Handelsbanken 1 MVV Environment Baldovie
Note: Named bank in latest accounts; 24 of the 50 companies list one
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