Martek Marine on the crest of a wave after profits go up fivefold

The Rotherham-based business recorded revenues of £6.9m in its latest financial year, up 32 per cent on the previous year, with pre-tax profits (Pbitda) of just over £1m, a fivefold increase.

Martek Marine, which designs, manufactures and supplies environmental and safety-monitoring technology, has benefited from winning new business in Asia Pacific after setting up a subsidiary in Singapore a year ago.

The company, which exports to more than 80 countries, is on course to achieve a £10m turnover in its current financial year, which runs to the end of February 2013.

Chief executive Paul Luen said: “Our ongoing strategic expansion and cutting-edge products have enabled us to outperform the market supported by over 50 sales and service partners internationally.”

He said setting up the business in Singapore has been a success. “It’s a major investment in property and training and so on, but it allows us to reach our customers in their time zone rather than having only two hours of business overlap.

“Given that we’re employing local people who speak the local Malay language and Mandarin, it’s allowed us to get closer to our customers and inevitably results are starting to come through.”

Mr Luen said Asia Pacific is “the fastest-growing area of the marine industry”, adding: “It’s growing at a disproportionate rate relative to the rest of the world.”

Martek Marine has always been “predominantly an exporter”, said Mr Luen, who added: “About 35 per cent of our sales of the whole group come from Asia and we are expecting to grow that percentage.” And the business also has its sights set on Russia and South America for further growth.

Martek Marine employs 54 people including eight in Singapore and Mr Luen estimates he will add another 10 people next year. Over the last year, the head count has risen by 20.

The firm’s product range includes its MariNOx emissions monitoring system, which measures carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxides and nitrous oxides created by ship engines, as well as its Navgard system, which helps prevent shipping accidents by alerting crew if the watch on a vessel’s bridge is interrupted.

Martek Marine is about to launch a series of new products including the equivalent of a satellite navigation system for ships. And it is heading a European consortium that is developing technology to sterilise ballast water, which is taken on by ships to ensure stability and then discharged.

Mr Luen said: “But what happens is that there are organisms that might travel from China to the USA for example, causing an ecological problem. The industry has recognised that before they discharge the water they must sterilise it.” Martek Marine has also forged a partnership with Orange to pioneer telecoms technology in ships.

Mr Luen said: “We are improving our competitive advantage and we are stealing market share with our innovative and disruptive business models where we are succeeding at the expense of our competitors.”

Mr Luen wants to take turnover through the £20m barrier in the financial year ending 2015. “It’s a big ask but we’ve got the vision to really put Martek on the map”, he said.

The business was hit by the onset of the recession in 2008, but brought in a series of measures to see itself through turbulent times.

Mr Luen said: “When I look back at the onset of the recession in 2008 and what we did in 2009 that was a great event for us. In situations of adversity I think the good companies get better where others may fail.

“It was a wake-up call for us to take a long-term strategic approach to market development and investment.”

A number of redundancies were made, while investment in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) programme, a new suite of business management software, has made the business more efficient, said Mr Luen.

The major shareholders of Martek Marine are Mr Luen, Mike Pringle, Steve Coulson and Simon Whitaker.

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