Jim McColl, OBE

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 1981 he moved to a senior management position with Diamond Power Speciality Limited, an engineering company supplying equipment to the power industry worldwide. During this time he studied part time for a Masters Degree in International Accounting and Finance.

In 1985 Jim was headhunted by Coopers & Lybrand as a senior consultant involved mainly in "corporate care" assignments. This meant working in various companies who were in financial difficulties and in need of turnaround.

In 1986 he left Coopers to become a self-employed "company doctor" and, after two succesful turnarounds, in 1992 he bought 29.9% of a small engineering company, Clyde Blowers plc, which had a full listing on the London Stock Exchange. Turnover at that time was around £4 million, with a loss making core business subsidised by investment income. The company was the smallest of eight companies doing what it did in the world market. Over the following five years Jim acquired six of the remaining competitors, consolidating seven companies into one. Clyde Blowers now has over 55% of the world market in its original product line, and has expanded into other growth engineering sectors.

On Tuesday 8th May 2007, over 135 years after the Weir brothers founded their business, Jim McColl announced the acquisition of Weir Pumps (Glasgow) from The Weir Group plc. As a result of this transaction, the diverse portfolio of technologies, process knowledge and expertise generated by Weir Pumps was incorporated into a newly created company, Clyde Pumps Ltd saving 600 jobs and an important part of Scotland's engineering heritage.

In September 2008, Jim led the largest transaction in Clyde Blowers' history by acquiring the entire Fluid & Power Division of Textron, an American Fortune 500 multi-industry company in a deal worth over $1 billion. Jim recognised that this particular division of Textron offered a range of complementary technologies to Clyde Blowers existing portfolio of companies, as well as the opportunity to expand its presence in the global pumps market. The acquisition, which was uniquely structured including a debt package from a club of four major banks, comprised of four separate businesses. These are Maag Pump Systems, David Brown Gear Systems, David Brown Hydraulics, which now operate as separate portfolio companies within the Clyde Blowers Group, taking the number of such organisations to seven, and Union Pumps, which is being integrated with Clyde Pumps, creating a powerful provider of pumps to the oil & gas, water, convential power and nuclear power markets.

Over the past 10 years Clyde Blowers has developed into a truly global portfolio of 83 companies in 27 different countries, employing 5,000 people around the world, with an annual turnover in excess of £1.2 billion.