4 days ago
Inside Dundee factory which ships petrol pumps to 160 countries
Dover Fueling Solutions ships thousands of petrol pumps around the world each year from its Dundee factory.
Employing 350 staff, it is one of Dundee's biggest manufacturing firms – and is committed to continuing that way.
While other city firms have closed or taken production overseas, Dover Fuelling Solutions (DFS) confirmed the business is 'here to stay'.
The Courier was given an exclusive look inside the busy Baldovie factory, which can build up to 500 fuel dispensers a week, by operations director and site leader Denise McHugh.
Denise, who has worked at the Dundee site since 2018, told The Courier: 'Dundee has a proud history of manufacturing and we are committed to continuing that.
'For us, keeping jobs in the Dundee and in Scotland is so important.
'Like any other business, we have been impacted by factors out with our control – such as Covid, inflation, cost of living, raw material prices and geopolitical conflicts.
'However, we have worked hard to offset these challenges.'
Denise added: 'One amazing part of working here is seeing the products we manufacture when we fill up our own cars.
'There are a number of fuel stations in Dundee, including Morrisons and Shell, that use our products.'
DFS is now one of the leading providers of advanced energy dispensing equipment – building and supplying fuel dispensers and payment terminals.
Exporting to 160 countries across the globe, the firm can produce 10,000 different fuel dispensing configurations.
Every customer can choose the size, shape, colour and media screen of the unit they wish to order.
European fuel stations tend to opt for simple configurations, meanwhile, orders from the United Arab Emirates are often for bigger dispensers with large screens.
The middle east market is an area of growth for DFS – a subsidiary of US-based parent company Dover Corporation – and the firm recently shipped a bright pink unit to Bahrain, Denise revealed.
The huge production site at West Pitkerro Industrial Estate – previously Schlumberger and then Tokheim – celebrates its 30th anniversary this year but underwent a multimillion pound expansion when it was taken over by DFS in 2016.
Initially it created two distinctly different terminals but in 2023 it created a new range using the 'best of both' the Tokheim and Wayne designs.
Denise and her team have also been instrumental in streamlining the production line.
Currently, the firm mostly caters for conventional fuels, but it has developed technology for alternative fuel methods, including compressed natural gas, biodiesel and hydrogen.
Denise explained: 'We know the future will be about clean energy and have a number of products in the testing phase.
'We will be watching the big players in the energy market closely and, when they invest, we will be ready to go.'
The firm does not manufacture electrical vehicle charging stations.
Staff turnover is low, Denise revealed, but there are currently job openings at the Dundee site.
She said: 'Our attrition rate is close to zero. We have a low staff turnover and some of our employees have worked here for 30 years.
'Career development is very important to us and we also offer travel. You could start in Dundee and end up in the United States or Brazil.'
DFS also prides itself on having a 'flexible workforce', with staff trained in various skillsets to ensure every week is different.
Denise, who left school as a Skillseeker, added: 'Something I am hugely positive about is showing that there are different pathways to employment.
'A lot of our management team didn't go to university and we offer apprentice programmes as well as graduate schemes.
'I am so proud of every member of our hardworking team and what they do each day to maintain the business.'
For the first time ever, DFS has been named a 2025 Manufacturing Leadership Award finalist by the US-based Manufacturing Leadership Council.
