A Fife tech company has strengthened its position as a global leader in cash counting technology as it celebrates an American acquisition and major contract win.
Dalgety Bay-based Cashmaster designs and manufactures count-by-weight cash-counting equipment used by leading international corporations including Starbucks, ASDA, Sainsbury’s, KFC, McDonald’s, Tesco and ALDI.
The company currently has a Scottish headcount of around 30 and saw an annual group turnover of $8 million before Covid-19 restrictions brought a downturn in the market.
All of the firm’s products are designed and manufactured in Scotland, with more than 90% of the units destined for the export market, especially North America.
Chief executive, Gordon McKie, said the firm had restructured and refinanced in the face of pandemic challenges and customer enquiries were again on the rise.
As well as the company’s Fife HQ, Cashmaster has offices in Europe, Asia and the USA, as well as more than 25 international distribution partners.
The firm, which was founded 40 years ago, recently acquired one of its distribution partners in America, a move which will reduce overheads and puts Cashmaster in direct contact with its customers.
The firm has also landed a “substantial contract” with a major, global telecoms business in the US.
Mr McKie said: “The recent period has been hard and challenging, but in terms of overheads, we had no choice but to become much leaner.“We are beginning to see an increase in customer enquiries and ATM withdrawals are again on the rise. “Although online shopping has grown and digital payments are more prevalent, cash transactions remain popular with people.”
Mr McKie pointed to a speech in 2017 by Victoria Cleland, the then chief cashier and director of notes at Bank of England, who highlighted that in 2017, more than 500 billion banknotes were in circulation”.
He said: “Our technology does not just count cash, it can also prepare, store and transfer count data that can be linked to point-of-sale units, wider systems and the back office as well integrate with other software platforms including treasury and cash in transit services.
Mr McKie said count-by-weight technology was an extremely competitive global market, but delivering robust and reliable products, designed and built-in Scotland gave international clients confidence.
“We would not survive if we did not have reliable products and in terms of count-by-weight technology, we are one of just three global leaders in the field”, he added.