Excellence in energy Fouré Lagadec

Levage cone combustor

EXCELLENCE IN ENERGY

French industrial engineering group Fouré Lagadec has teams working worldwide to provide impressive safety and maintenance results for its oil and gas clients. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to the chairman Gilles Fournier, to gain an insight into how the company is achieving ‘unwavering dedication’.

Jellyfish reactor operation Rotor compressor

Exchanger bundle

Established in 1922, industrial engineering group Fouré Lagadec has strategic locations throughout France, Africa and the Middle East in order to serve its customers in the world’s oil and gas hubs.

The company operates in two clear business directions, both of which work well together to offer a comprehensive service as demanded by its global customers. Firstly, the company produces pressure vessels for the oil and gas and other related industries, and its second activity is providing the maintenance of energyproducing plants such as oil refineries and other platforms and stations. Both business areas have the priority of ‘hazard monitoring and the quest for maximum safety’ – as defined by the mission of the company.

Beating challenges

The fact that Fouré Lagadec serves the O&G industry means that the company has faced some challenges from the global recession, particularly due to a number of plants closing in recent years. Chairman Gilles Fournier told Industry Europe how this diversified approach has enabled the company to deal with the challenges it faced. He said, “We are very much an oil and gas related company as we are selling products and services to this industry, so our recent main concern has been that changes in European refining trends due to the downturn have seen a number of plants close. Although this is disturbing news for us, our current commercial and management goal is to overcome this in a positive way. We are well positioned to achieve this, particularly as we are experienced in offering added value services where our specific expertise is unrivalled.”

The company is justifiably proud of its progressive approach to adding value to its customers’ projects and operations, and it

is this which looks set to guarantee Fouré Lagadec’s positive future. With international and multinational teams of engineering, development and project management teams highly trained to respond effectively to technical issues, this approach is well suited to the more future-focused sectors of nuclear and wind energy.

Growing presence

Mr Fournier explained how the company is working hard to further build its presence in these arenas. He said, “Our extensive maintenance and fabrication skills for O&G projects enables us to deliver on offshore wind turbine and electric wind energy projects with a terrific understanding of the engineering issues involved. We are also setting up a comprehensive industrial organisation to respond to the demands of the industry and support our position as experts in the field. We have found that by presenting carefully-researched industrial facts and closely associating with complementary companies, including creating commercial and technical agreements, we are able to be in the market exactly where and when we are most needed.”

Fouré Lagadec has also worked with EDF for many years on nuclear energy projects, and this positive relationship is currently growing in line with the increased demand in this field. Furthermore, the company is involved with a large project that is in the very early stages, with Fouré Lagadec in the process of investing in local companies in order to be present in suitable locations to this prestigious contract.

Local and global

As part of its strategy to develop in increasingly important sectors and markets, Fouré Lagadec sets up companies in countries which are seeing a positive development in O&G, such as Russia, the Middle East and Africa, where it has a growing number of locations which all include carefully chosen employees with expert local knowledge. Its second progressive activity is focused on developing its own presence in geographical markets which are presently closed to O&G progression but still show growing interest in sectors that require complementary skills, such as nuclear energy and renewable energy. Fouré Lagadec also produces equipment for the marine industry, such as stabilisers for ships, with clients including a major contract with the Australian Navy.

Mr Fournier highlighted that Fouré Lagadec is keen to be involved in such ecologically sustainable projects both from a commercial and responsibility perspective. He commented, “Working on green energy projects is not just a sustainable philosophy, it’s also a strategic business decision. It’s a growing business and one which is set to lead us into the future. After many companies in the O&G sector experienced difficulties during the recession, we have to be practical about the stability of our business just as much as any ecological principles.”

Engaging with customers

In order to ensure that it enables its customers to benefit from the technological advantages provided by the project expertise gained over nearly 90 years, the development strategy at Fouré Lagadec essentially rests on offering diversified services to customers in fields related to its core O&G experience. Mr Fournier concluded, “Our present focus is all about developing the company, so we have already made some acquisitions outside of France to further strengthen our global position. This is actually a strategy that we implemented some time ago, so we are ahead of the game in terms of market research and engaging with potential partners. The coming months will be dedicated to both harnessing new business and making sure we take great care of our existing clients.” n