Allan Laing, chief executive of Pentagon Chemicals
MTM was later acquired by another firm, DTP, and in 1995 Laing accepted an offer to become the managing director of Pentagon. In 2001, the company was taken over by US giant Dow Chemicals and he was made redundant.
He added: “A few weeks later, I was offered the chance to lead a management buyout of the company and I thought ‘why not?’. The big challenge was raising the finance, because long-term forecasting in this business is very difficult. What we have tried to do more and more over the years is secure long-term contracts.”
Recently, Pentagon was named the winner in the manufacturing category at the 2008 Chemical Industries Association Awards for Excellence, and Laing himself is actively involved in promoting the sector in the region.
He has also been asked to join the North West board of the National Skills Academy, but has no intention of taking his foot off the pedal at Pentagon.
He and his management team are now eyeing potential acquisitions.
“We think there are a handful of opportunities,” he said. “And we are assessing a couple of possible acquisitions with the aim of achieving a critical mass.
“We also make sure we communicate the state of the business to all our workers on a weekly basis.
“We try to make sure we have a pretty open and honest culture.”
