Another Record Year for SN Engineering - Interview with Mark Osborne, Sales Director

David Roberts (HUB): Congratulations on another successful year. How did your performance compare with previous years?
Mark Osborne (SNE): Thanks. We [SN Engineering] have been able to sustain strong growth for the past several years, in fact almost year on year since formation back in early 2007, and we will finish 2015-16 with sales up by over 50% on 2014-15 and 250% on 2013-14. We are grateful and believe, actually know that there is more to come!

David Roberts (HUB): What do you believe is the reason behind the sustained growth?
SNE: We cannot say that it is just down to one initiative or product. Our success can be attributed to a wide variety of factors and growth in different areas. Certainly, our expertise in dry bulk materials handling equipment, design & supply continues to open up new opportunities, but we are also breaking into new markets with our dust filtration & bulk storage products. In addition, it may sound a little predictable, but our success would not be possible without our dedicated and professional team.

David Roberts (HUB): Are there any particular success stories in 2015?
SNE: I would love to talk in detail about some of the projects we have been or are currently involved in but we are often bound by NDA’s. It is the nature of the industry sectors were heavily involved with and our working closely with a client in developing a solution is where we excel and is one of our strengths. Suffice to say that our top performances over the past 18 months have been in our Filtration ; Loading & Bulk Storage divisions with our Conveying ( mechanical screw & pneumatic ) playing a leading supporting role. However, it does mean that we often cannot talk about it and that frustrates our marketing and sales team!

David Roberts (HUB): Do you believe that this rate of growth can be sustained in 2016?
SNE: That’s the million-dollar question! Of course maintaining growth is always challenging, but we continue to innovate & diversify and that is a major factor in our success. We are in the fortunate position of carrying forward a very healthy order book into the coming 2016 – 17 year & actually believe that there is potential growth right across our product range. Also, export business has always been of low priority to date, however we are seeing a marked increase in interest for our products overseas, we see a huge potential to grow our customer base outside of the UK and that is one of several key initiatives for 2016.

David Roberts (HUB): Are there any particular projects or plans for 2016?
SNE: Over the past 18 months, we have worked hard to improve our identity as a UK manufacturer of dust filtration systems & loading bellows and our marketing team is going to use this as a springboard for 2016. It is an exciting time.

David Roberts (HUB): Good luck for 2016!
SNE: Thank you and I hope that our plans and strategies mean that we do not have to rely on just ‘good luck’ to hit our 2016 targets. There is a great amount of work still to be done, but we are ready to face up to the exciting challenge.

This interview was conducted by David Roberts, GSM @ Hub-4, on 5th February2016.