A former civil servant was yesterday toasting a big jump in sales at the north-east business she leads.
Charlene O’Connor left her job as senior director of skills and learning at Scottish Enterprise in 2008, with £250,000 in compensation after the economic development quango was ruled to have falsely accused her of corruption.
She later became chief executive at Engym Services, a Lanarkshire-based company working on technology to boost the efficiency of diesel engines.
The firm ended up in administration but its technology, including additive Fueltone, was snapped up by north-east oil services entrepreneur Robbie Gray.
He established Fueltone as a subsidiary of his Newburgh-based business Cairndon, with Ms O’Connor installed as CEO and minority shareholder.
Reporting a 20% rise in annual turnover to £684,000 at Fueltone, which specialises in fuel additives and engine treatments for vehicles, Ms O’Connor said new markets and a growing list of stockists were generating sales growth.
She added: “Our strategy to introduce a new product range into a busy and competitive market was a brave choice but by differentiating and leading with innovation and quality we have been a disruptive force amongst the market leaders in the UK.”