Mark Allard, the new managing director of steel works and heavy engineering specialists Watson Towers Ltd, has marked his first four weeks in the job by securing £500,000 worth of orders.

The new work includes orders from operators in the renewables and oil and gas sectors including the North Sea.

Fraser Towers, director of Coatbridge-based Watson Towers, said: “We were always confident that Mark’s 30 years experience of the Scottish steel industry would pay dividends for us.

“But the speed with which he has found his feet in his new role, and generated such a significant contribution to the company’s order books, has been very impressive.”

Mr Allard joined Watson Towers from global giants, Edgen Murray, having previously set up and run Eterniti Steels Scotland, a new steel plate processing business.

He said: “Despite all the doom and gloom around the North Seas oil and gas industry there is still good business to be done in the sector.

“One of the reasons I was brought into the company was to help focus on taking advantage of these opportunities, and I am delighted to get off to a flying start.

“Now the pressure is on to keep performing at that level.”

He added: “I have been hugely impressed with Watson Towers in terms of the staff’s skill levels, and the range of services they offer, from basic steel plates to high precision profiling and specialist products such as steel plates for gas storage tanks and the likes.”