John Lawrie Group has invested close to £2 million on new technology and equipment across its three Scottish sites following a successful year for the company.

The new investments are part of a continuous programme of improvement across the company.

At the Aberdeen and Evanton bases, £800,000 has been invested in three new generation Liebherr Scrap Handlers. These machines have been developed specifically for material handling and were chosen for their high load capacities and superior reach. Important environmental benefits of the new scrap handlers are the Power Efficiency System and a new Energy Recovery Cylinder which help to increase the handling capacity while reducing fuel consumption by a substantial 27%.

The firm's Montrose metals recycling facility has taken delivery of a new £400,000 Shear from manufacturers Lefort, who produce a wide range of metal recycling equipment in the market today. The Conkeror 500 model has been designed using the very latest technology to produce the most economic and environmentally friendly model to date.

In addition to this investment at Montrose, the pipe yard has seen the introduction of two new Liebherr Wheeled Loader Forklifts which, thanks to the parallel movement over the entire lifting area and the excellent view on all working areas, allows the operator to concentrate fully on the task in hand. By easing this operation, these two forklifts, which cost over £200,000 each, will enhance both productivity and safety at Montrose.

A further £100,000 has been spent on upgrades to the Aberdeen yard which includes extensive additional concrete works. Meanwhile, a significant investment has been made in installing a new computer infrastructure and disaster recovery back-up system across the Groups operating bases and HQ.

Dave Weston Operations Director commented "Our continuous investment programme ensures that we're replacing our handling equipment with the best levels of improved safety and fuel efficient performance models available and meet the highest operating standards.

"The new equipment will be an enormous benefit to our growing involvement with both oil and gas decommissioning, and general dismantling projects."