Aberdeen’s Gary Notman made one of the gutsiest decisions of his business career in November 2015.
Then, the businessman increased his stake in Pressure Test Solutions (PTS) from 25% to 100% by buying out the company’s founder and co-director, Fred Nicol.
Mr Notman only joined the pressure testing equipment supplier in late 2013, but the 44-year-old had already seen enough potential in the company to believe he can take it forward.
He said: “It was the right time to buy 100% of the company – it was always on the cards to increase my stake. With the year that 2015 was, it made sense for one of the two directors to exit the business. That became clear during the year.
“Having one less director on the payroll makes us leaner and keener for challenges ahead.”
And although Mr Notman is not suffering buyer’s remorse, he is aware of the risks involved in taking sole command of a company which relies on clients from the oil and gas industry during a downturn.
“It could come to look a brave move or a silly one – only time will tell,” said Mr Notman, who learned his trade as an apprentice engineer in the late 1980s.
The direction Mr Notman’s career has taken owes much to the influence of his father, Brian, who managed the company where he cut his teeth as a trainee.
Notman senior had insisted that his son learn a trade so that he would always have something to fall back on. Notman junior followed that advice to become an apprentice mechanic, but eventually swapped rigs and workshops for the office.
He said: “I could not see myself in a boiler suit for the rest of my days, though I’ve got admiration for people who can. I wanted to move into the office and up the ladder, so I was the same as my father in that respect.”
Mr Notman grabbed the opportunity to become a sales estimator at Turner Diesel, the company where he finished his apprenticeship.
The wages were lower to start with, but for Mr Notman, going home every night to his family – something he was unable to do while working offshore – was a bigger drive.
He went on to become general manager of RentAir Offshore, before getting the call to join ATR Group – the company co-founded by his father – in 2000.
What followed was a period of huge growth for ATR, which went on to be sold in 2007 for a fee thought to be more than £10million.
Mr Notman said of that purple patch: “There are a lot of things I learned while working with my father during that growth period and I’m trying to take that on with PTS as well.”
In the short time Mr Notman has been in charge of PTS, he has taken steps to prepare the firm for life in the current market.
Primarily, that has involved introducing new products and ensuring the Bridge of Don-based company’s employees are kept motivated during quieter spells – though he hopes there won’t be many of those.
“We’ve diversified,” he insisted. “To keep moving forward we need to add products and services, moving away from only doing pressure test equipment. That will create different income streams, not just from oil and gas. We’re spreading our net a bit wider to keep everyone employed.”
Despite describing the current downturn as a bigger challenge than anything he has witnessed during his 20 plus years in the industry, Mr Notman is convinced there are still opportunities for younger, debt-free companies to grow.
Indeed, steady growth is the order of the day at PTS for the next 12 months to three years, which Mr Notman believes will be critical for the sector. The early signs are promising, thanks in no small part to the oil price collapse.
“Doors that were closed to us are starting to creak open now as people are looking for a better price or service,” Mr Notman said. “We’re now getting to the table whereas before we did not even get that far to discuss products and services.”
Further down the line, he wants to double turnover at the company, which came in at £1.9million for the last financial year, and to add to its nine-strong team.
He is also targeting new markets as nearby as the north of England and as far afield as Brazil.
“There is huge potential in Brazil,” he said. “I know there are challenges and risks associated with that market, but I’m drawn to it by changes in legislation in response to recent bribery and corruption scandals.
“The country is more open now to foreign companies coming in and it’s an area I’m keen to investigate. They have huge reserves there.”
Asked whether he thinks any of his own children will play a part in growing PTS in the coming years, Mr Notman said: “You should never try to push kids into something – they need to find their own direction.
But, if they wanted to come and work for me and had the right skills set, I would love them to.”