Moray firm involved in world’s largest floating river bank

The company, based in the Enterprise Park Forres, produces modules for floating islands and riverbanks to help cities around the world transform the way they work with water.

It landed the international contracts after gaining support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for its research and development, innovation and international marketing strategy.

The process has seen the company’s workforce increase by 80% in the past five years, while turnover has increased from £117,000 to £500,000. It is now aiming to more than treble this to £1.6m by 2022, mainly through international sales, and create at least five more full time equivalent jobs.

Angie Smith, business account manager with HIE has been leading the agency’s engagement with the firm. She said:

“Biomatrix is making tremendous progress and is a role model example for innovation and exporting. The company’s growth in turnover and workforce reflects the ambition and hard work shown by the firm over the past five years.

“We are very pleased to have been able to provide a package of support to match the company’s potential and this has helped accelerate its expansion. In turn, this will strengthen the wider local economy in the Forres area.”

Galen Fulford, Biomatrix managing director, said:

“We have had a very successful year, working hard to innovate and improve our products and expand into European markets to help create a movement of Living Water Cities.

“This summer, we installed our biggest project yet; the world’s largest floating riverbank in an inner-city canal in Rennes, France. We had the opportunity here to implement our newest product; a floating planter for shrubs and small trees, and to create a system that could withstand high water flows in a dynamic river environment.

“We have also continued working with several partners in the US and the UK, expanding existing projects and designing new ones. Our product range continues to evolve and improve, so we stay on top of our market and maintain our strong position as waterscape innovators.

“The help and support from HIE has been crucial in getting us to where we are today. Our entire staff became involved in workshops that helped us define our strategy, come up with new ideas to get our story out, to brand and market ourselves better and to improve our manufacturing process and team workflow. We have all benefited, and continue benefiting, greatly from this support.”