Power of
Thursday May 1 2014
Scotland
Deep thoughts Neil Gordon on the crucial role of subsea
Filling the gap
The offshore industry ups its game in the skills quest
Thursday May 1 2014 | the times
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Power of Scotland
Welcome
MARY TURNER FOR THE TIMES
Challenge and change met with new talent Welcome to the May issue of Power of Scotland, highlighting some of the pivotal issues in Scotland’s energy sector. On these pages, Alan Spence of Accord Energy Solutions commends the benefits of employee ownership, of which his company is an industry pioneer. Peter Jones takes an evaluative look at the disparity he finds between the falling value of oil and gas being produced and the growing number of people employed offshore. Our cover story is an encouraging update of the subsea sector’s worldwide success, with much of the innovation coming from the UK, and Scotland in particular. Elsewhere, we examine new ways in which the industry is seeking out and training people to fill a well-publicised skills gap — including many leaving the Armed Forces who are now putting their experience and highly specialist knowledge to new use. And in an increasingly globalised business, we confront the challenges posed by overseas corporate travel.
Inside ... Into the talent pool
How the industry is sourcing much needed skills Page 4
Cover story
Scottish subsea companies are thriving worldwide Page 9
Building on the heritage
The Highlands and Islands remain at the forefront Page 12
Route map
Overcoming the challenges of global business travel Page 14
Power to the people means a better corporate culture Employee ownership results in enthusiasm and satisfaction that enhances results and encourages client confidence, writes Alan Spence
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cotland’s oil and gas industry has rightly earned its reputation for innovation. But, unfortunately, it has also earned one for its skills shortage. It dominates headlines, threatens growth and is a hurdle every employer must overcome. Inflated salaries do little to detract from talent poaching, so the solution lies elsewhere. At Accord Energy Solutions we’ve found just that. When the other co-directors and I left our jobs with a multinational, FTSE 100 company to set up Accord Energy Solutions in 2010 we had one overriding goal; we wanted to establish a company that was owned by its staff. Of course, it also had to be successful, have a long term future and be rooted in the community. We felt that by achieving these aims we would strike a blow for responsible capitalism in the wake of the recent financial crisis and chronic skills shortage. We were the first company in Scotland to create an employee ownership business from start-up. We were also the first in the industry to found a company on its principles. In an industry where the traditional strategy is to grow a company until it achieves multi-millions in
Alan Spence calls for retention as well as recruitment
turnover before selling-out and moving on, what we were creating didn’t just go against the grain it circumvented the grain all together. And that’s exactly where we wanted to be. We experienced the traditional strategy before where a company was grown to sell. But only the minority benefit from that set-up. At Accord we endeavoured to create a place that benefited the majority where people feel valued, invested and passionate about where they work. At the beginning all we had was a blank piece of paper, a map with no bearings. We threw ourselves into research and discovered a treasure trove of businesses which not only embraced the employee ownership model, but were thriving with it. We learned of Philip Baxendale and the Baxi Partnership, David Erdal and Loch Fyne Oysters (his book became our company bible), Tullis Russell, Co-operative Development Scotland and the Employee Ownership Association. With their help we began to plot a course to our destination and now three years later we are well on our way. Over the past three years Accord’s growth has exceeded our expectations and employee ownership has been at the heart of that growth. We achieved record turnover this year at £4.3 million — a 38 per cent increase on last year’s figures. This places us firmly on track to achieve our goal of recording £5m in turnover by 2015. Our employees don’t just have an emotional stake in the company. They have a financial stake too. Everyone from the director to the engineer to the office manager shares in its successes.
And we’re not alone. According the Employee Ownership Association, employee-owned companies have withstood the test of economic turmoil. In 2012, despite the on-going financial crisis, the growth rate of employee owned businesses was 50 per cent higher than the UK economy. Since the Employee Ownership Index began in 1992, employee owned companies have outperformed FTSE All-share companies by an average of 10 per cent every year. Employee-owned companies currently make up 3 per cent of the UK’s GDP and advocates hope to increase that number to 10 per cent by 2020. Research by the Baxi Partnership and the Employee Ownership Association also showed that employees are dedicated to their company and more satisfied with their jobs, resulting in a good corporate culture. Hard work, enthusiasm and loyalty are rewarded by substantial shares and an influential voice in the running of the company. In an industry as competitive as the oil and gas industr, retention is just as important as recruitment. Employee ownership allows us to do both. Our customers also value the strength of their company contact relationships. Accord’s high retention level inspires client confidence and allows us to work with major global operators. Ultimately, employee ownership has the potential to set a company apart in a crowded marketplace. A company’s success is down to its people and it should be all staff, not just a select few, who get to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Alan Spence is co-founder and director at Accord Energy Solutions
the times | Thursday May 1 2014
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Power of Scotland
Peter Jones
Many hands make heavy work as offshore production declines offshore for just a few days, so a better measure is the core offshore workforce, defined as people working more than 100 days offshore. This has risen from 19,600 in 2006 to 25,800 by 2012, a 32 per cent increase. But at the same time, production has been falling. According to Oil & Gas UK, offshore output was down from 1.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in 2006 to 50
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THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
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Gross value produced per member core workforce ($m) 2009
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Bookings now open don’t miss your chance to be part of this important industry event!
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- How can we develop a sustainable future for the UK oil and gas industry? This unique conference
offers you the opportunity to hear from government, regulators, industry leaders and specialists. Have your finger on the pulse of the key issues influencing the continued success of the UK offshore oil and gas industry today and in the decades ahead.
11 – 12 June 2014 Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre Bridge of Don Aberdeen AB23 8BL
Plenary speakers include:
Helen Dickinson, HMT Trevor Garlick, BP John Pearson, AMEC Stephen Speed, DECC Sir Ian Wood Senior Representatives from the UK and Scottish Governments
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OIL & GA
www.oilandgasuk.co.uk
Maximising Economic Recovery in the UK -
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CONFERENCE
Number of core workforce per 100k barrels oil equivalent produced
OIL & GA
Wage inflation in the industry has been well documented. Estimates of it vary, but the most reliable source is Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce’s annual industry survey. The latest survey, published last November, found that in 2013, operators increased pay on average by 6.5 per cent and contractors lifted wages by 4.8 per cent. These above-inflation increases have been going on for at least a decade. Even in the recession years of 200809, increases of 4 per cent were still awarded. Over the decade 2003-13, wages for employees of both contractors and operators rose by between 60-70 per cent in nominal terms, or between 35-40 per cent in real terms, which is miles ahead of pay movements in the rest of manufacturing industry. But this isn’t the only way that costs are increasing. Since 2006, Oil & Gas UK has been gathering facts and figures on the numbers of people working offshore. In 2006, it found there were a total of 50,000 recorded as doing some work offshore, a number which rose to about 57,000 by 2012. This includes people who may be
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ost industries, if production was falling over a long period, would be shedding jobs. Not the offshore oil and gas industry. Despite production being substantially down over the past few years, there are more people than ever working offshore. And while the rising costs of that workforce and the difficulty of getting the right people are the biggest headache facing operators and contractors, they are part of a bigger but less discussed problem — slumping productivity which threatens to abbreviate the industry’s life. This is not because there is less oil left than the 24 billion barrels generally estimated. It is simply because the costs of extracting those barrels are rising at shocking speeds. If they carry on doing so, it just won’t be worth the investment, especially as there are bigger and better prospects elsewhere in the world. Although the scale of the infrastructure and the intricacy of the technology deployed is enormously impressive, and will need to be even more impressive the more difficult the remaining resource extraction is, rising workforce costs are a serious issue.
567 million boe in 2012, nearly a 50 per cent reduction. Production halving, but workforce numbers increasing by a third, and the pay of that workforce also rising by a third, cannot be good news in any business’s book. Indeed, in most sectors, it would spell liquidators knocking at the door. It certainly means a big fall in productivity. When just the workforce numbers are set against output, the number of people needed to produce 100,000 boe has risen from 18 in 2006 to 45 in 2012, a two and a half fold reduction in productivity (see chart). The saving grace of the industry has been rising oil and gas prices. But even this can’t mask looming trouble. With the cautionary note that these calculations are very rough, based on annual average prices and annual production volumes rather than day to day pricing of actual output, it looks as though the gross annual output value per core offshore worker has fallen from $3 million per worker in 2006 to $2 million in 2012. Even if there is a 10 per cent error factor in these numbers, the trend is still there — North Sea productivity in both volume and value terms is tumbling. Although Sir Ian Wood’s review recommendations suggest costs can be cut, it seems unlikely that they will do enough to reverse or even halt the North Sea’s major problem – nose-diving productivity which is making its economic viability highly questionable.
The event’s agenda will encompass: • • • • • • • • • •
Commercial Issues and Access to Finance Data Management Energy Policy Environment Exploration Legal Operations Safety Skills and Employment UK Supply Chain Capabilities and Overseas Demand
Oil & Gas UK Member Rate: £552.50 + VAT Non-member Rate: £850.00 + VAT
@oilandgasuk #oilandgasukevents
Thursday May 1 2014 | the times
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Power of Scotland
Training and Development
Perception of a sector re-tooled There is a major drive to find those with the skills for Scotland’s energy industry – and no room for complacency, finds Ginny Clark
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orven Spalding went half-way around the world before she discovered her niche in the Scottish oil and gas industry, and she knows better than most about the hurdles people can face when it comes to making a career transition into this sector. A useful perspective, given that the task of finding the right people to fill the skills gap remains one of this industry’s biggest challenges. Bringing employers and job-seekers together is now a priority for an industry tasked with widening their existing talent pool, while ensuring that the next generation not only possess the skills necessary for key roles, but also has the enthusiasm to be part of a dynamic sector that has not traditionally topped the wannabe-careers charts. Spalding, skills development director for OPITO, the skills organisation for the oil and gas industry, knows there is no room for complacency when it comes to changing wider public perceptions about the industry, and the myriad opportunities it offers. Having gone from Ayrshire to Aberdeen via Dallas, her career crossover experience is not unique. “I originally worked in learning development in medical diagnostics, and I made the switch to oil and gas seven years ago because my husband had originally got a job in the industry,” she says. “As I came from a completely different background, I didn’t know all the various facets of the industry or the trade associations, but if you go online it can be phenomenally difficult to navigate round all the different sources to find out the information you need. There are so many aspects to the oil and gas industry, and most people outside the sector are not aware of that.” Offshore, onshore, subsurface, subsea, joining a company or working as a contractor … getting to grips with the industry as a whole can be tough for someone looking to make the jump from another career. However, matching individual skillsets to a specific job is where the real challenge lies, and industry-owned OPITO is now working with a number of partners, including the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) to help streamline this process. “At OPITO, we work across the whole of the industry with trade associations
Oil & Gas UK and Subsea UK, on getting skilled workers in, continuing training and development, and ensuring best practice and standards,” says Spalding. “There is still a general lack of understanding about what the industry is all about. If you ask people outside oil and gas, a lot of them will say it’s dirty, hard work, that everyone wears boiler suits, and all the jobs are offshore, when in fact, around 90 per cent of industry jobs are onshore. “Another issue is that some people who are interested in making the transition from their current career to this industry can spend their hard-earned cash on survival courses and safety training. Yet if a company is looking to recruit someone with the right qualifications then they would be paying for these courses. “To help address these misconceptions, and make it easier for people to access information about the industry, we’ve been working with the other trade associations to create a gateway, an electronic portal that will be a one-stop shop for people outside the industry, at all stages of interest. This is currently under development and due to be launched in November. “This website will also give school pupils information about the industry, with a history of the North Sea operations, and show pathways for potential careers. This will continue with tailored information for students and those leaving college and university, and also for those who are mid-career, making the switch from other sectors, or adult returners. “There will also be a repository of information for teachers, as that can be the first step for informing young people who maybe don’t have any understanding of the types of careers that may be open to them within the oil and gas industry. This is all about raising awareness around the industry as a whole. “There’s been a lot of focus on the military, and we’re still working with other partner organisations on that, to help former Armed Forces personnel make the cross-over into oil and gas. Having heard we were ranked fourth in terms of alternative career choices for the military, we’re now taking our work with the MOD to another level. The fact is, the oil and gas industry is the biggest contributor to the UK treasury, so why are former Armed Forces personnel not looking to us first? Once again, it comes back to that lack of awareness about the roles available.
“So we’ve begun a series of workshops on military bases, telling the story of oil and gas, and about the opportunities within our industry. The feedback has been really positive, people have loved going to these sessions, and I see a real need for doing more on this kind of work. I think, as an industry, we’ve not been good at spreading the word, telling people outside oil and gas what might be there for them.” Both acknowledging and delivering on the need for greater and wider communication is just one aspect of how OPITO is tackling the skills shortage, with direct and practical support just as important in helping the industry to find the right people for the right jobs. “We also believe that some suitable recruits may be getting overlooked,” says Spalding. “Within the industry, there may be HR departments looking at their CVs, but they might not recognise the skills and competencies, so they put the applications aside. “So we’re now involved in an education process, explaining not just what should be on a CV, remembering that recruiters spend about 18 seconds on them, but basically how to write a CV for oil and gas, with the necessary skills and competencise up front on the first page. This information will be in the new portal, but we’re also dealing with it within the military sessions.” Education is at the heart of the industry’s drive to widen the talent pool, and the national oil and gas week in November will be focused on how to engage with the very youngest of potential recruits. “We have to look carefully at what were doing here,” says Spalding. “Many teachers don’t know about the oil and gas industry, and so it won’t form part of their discussions about careers or job prospects. So unless a child has a parent who works in the industry, they won’t understand anything about it. In November, we’ll use one special day to help spread that message, by bringing 250 schoolchildren here
Education and engaging with young potential recruits is key to the drive to widen the talent pool
We’ve begun a series of workshops on military bases with positive feedback
to OPITO, and showing them how they can plan a career journey. We’ll be sitting down with students and graduates too, to hopefully inspire them to think about a career in oil and gas. “We’re also looking at ways to encourage more women into the industry. A senior women mentoring programme is being aimed at helping younger staff who are perhaps just in place in a new job, or those women who are coming back from time out to have a family, and perhaps not getting as far as they had hoped, whether it’s sticky floor or glass ceiling syndrome. Again though, we’re going to the grassroots and looking at creating interest for girls at school and university.” Establishing a wider dialogue with young people is crucial to sustaining the industry, and Dr Alix Thom, employment and skills issues manager at Oil & Gas UK, agrees this area of work remains an important focus. “We look to fly the flag at every opportunity,” she said. “I spoke at Scotland Rocks last month, the annual conference for senior secondary school geology students, and of course we continue to work as an industry through individual companies, and through OPITO, to look at longterm approaches to encourage young people to take STEM subjects at school. What we’re also working towards is better access to guidance teachers, because unless they know about the oil and gas industry and the opportunities it offers for different jobs, it’s very difficult for information to be passed on to young people. “If they are not actively looking into the sector, or don’t see an oil and gas presence in their own area, it’s less likely that people will think of the industry in terms of career paths. However, we are doing a lot as an industry to raise awareness among the public and with politicians. Next year, for instance, we will be supporting a major exhibition at the Glasgow Science Centre, Powering the Future. The interac-
the times | Thursday May 1 2014
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Power of Scotland
Morven Spalding, skills development director at OPITO
tive exhibition will showcase innovation and engineering excellence, and we’re very excited about the project. This will also be an opportunity to reach, not just schoolchildren, but also their parents and teachers who are very influential in the choices they will make.” Education, however, must also be a two-way process. It’s not just about careers information, and teaching potential recruits how to prime their CVs for this sector, the oil and gas companies themselves must learn to spot the kind of experience their industry is crying out for.
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mployers can see a job title, and not have a clue what that involves,” says Spalding. “If someone from the military writes down that they are a ‘weapons engineer’, then a recruiter may not recognise the degree of transferable skills that person may possess. So we’re developing a number of physical tools, including a skills-mapping tool that will correlate military with oil and gas roles, identifying where the cross-over of skills and expertise lies. Potential recruits may not necessarily need additional training, and this tool will also help to negate that unnecessary spending. It will also highlight where the gaps are , and this will be of great benefit to both the industry, and the individual.” Dr Thom believes this tool will be a game-changer. “We’re working hard with the military on this, and it’s really taking shape. Skills-mapping will be key to moving people in larger numbers, and more
quickly, from their Armed Forces positions into this industry. However, we’re also in talks with other science and technical sectors such as BAE, who recently announced a programme of job losses over the next three years. We’re also taking part in discussions, led by Scottish Enterprise, about the feasibility of creating a training facility that replicates the offshore environment, onshore. People who are already skilled could be competency assessed while working within a simulated offshore environment.” Of course, service leavers, and others coming into the industry, are often not only making a jump in career, they are also making a jump in lifestyle, with changes to home and location that can also have huge implications for their families. Indeed, OPITO’s skills development director Spalding admits a lack of knowledge about the granite city resulted in a Stateside move for her 15 years ago. “My husband was offered a job in Aberdeen or in Texas,” she says. “Initially he was thinking about Aberdeen, but all my perceptions about the city were negative. When our careers did eventually bring us here, I thought: ‘Why didn’t I come here years ago?’ This is a great city.” Heather Farquhar, the council’s senior officer for employability, skills and community enterprise, has been working with CTP on precisely this message. Service leavers who make the switch to working offshore in oil and gas may only have minimum disruption to their home situation. The challenge for Aberdeen, says Farquhar, is to encourage the right
numbers of appropriate personnel to relocate to the city and surrounding area to meet the demands of the onshore support sector. “We’re here to help people make informed decisions about what Aberdeen can offer,” she says. “We also have to manage expectations. What some people perceive as a good salary down south would not necessarily buy the same property up here, and we don’t have as much publicly-funded housing. However, we also focus on the quality of life here, the schools and amenities available. One of the key messages, especially from service leavers, is that a lot of them have a great interest in outdoor sport and active lifestyles, and that is something they can access with complete ease in this area.” For oil and gas, it seems collaboration and partnership are central to any recruitment drive, and ensuring the lifeblood of this industry, talented people, remains in healthy supply. “The industry had not done enough,” adds Spalding. “We needed to become smarter and I think we are now doing that. But employers do need to help us here. In the downturn of 2009-10 some companies stopped hiring, yet there are so many now looking to fill posts with experienced staff, and they would have been the graduates of four years ago. “So we’re feeling the pain a bit. We need to keep young people coming through the system, and if companies don’t have apprentice schemes, then OPITO can help with sponsorship deals for graduates and internships. Apprentices and graduates are the seedstock for the future.”
Thursday May 1 2014 | the times
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Power of Scotland
Training and Development
The boot’s on the other foot
The Career Transition Partnership is tasked with helping thousands of Armed Forces personnel march into civilian jobs that demand specialised skills, writes Ginny Clark
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he Career Transition Partnership (CTP), is the MOD’s official provider of Resettlement Services and is the ministry working with Right Management, part of the Manpower Group of companies. CTP works to help exmilitary personnel cross over into other industries such as oil and gas, and also offer free recruitment help for employers wishing to hire ex-military personnel. More than 15,000 personnel leaving the Armed Forces enter the civilian job market through the CTP each year. That range of personnel covers a wide variety of expertise, from engineers, technicians, pilots and drivers to trainers, administrators, chefs and nurses. Many of them have the kinds of skills that are valuable, and transferable, to the oil and gas industry. Phil McLaughlin, CTP’s regional manager for Scotland, brings his own experience in helping to progress this complex transition, having made his own move from the Royal Air Force. “Many people leave the military every year for a variety of reasons” says McLaughlin. “Leaving such a well-drilled and structured background for civvy life takes preparation, so we work with all ranks and all services in planning, training and finding employment, “Those leaving the Armed Forces – we call them service leavers — will be making the transition to industries such as oil and gas, but also to retail, engineering,
logistics, aviation and much more — there are many different opportunities out there. Some of our service leavers know what they want to do, and others don’t, however, many of them want to continue with the activities and disciplines they are experienced in, such as mechanical or electrical engineering. Many service leavers may not have worked in the private sector, so it’s all completely new for them, but they can bring across valuable skills and knowledge gained in military service. “We do find when we’re working with service leavers that some don’t realise the extent of what they can offer in terms of transferable skills. So we run three-day workshops, where we help them assess their own career attributes, build a CV, and look at the industry sector. By the end of those three days they are able to make more informed decisions about what they want to do, whether to apply immediately for jobs or book courses for any additional training and they have access to Career Consultants and a range of tools to help them with the transition. “We have also been running successful Careers Fairs, where service leavers can find out more about the opportunities available to them, as well as oil and gas industry presentations designed to give them a clearer understanding of the industry. We have one of these presentations coming up in May with OPITO. “From a training aspect, CTP offer courses such as APMP (project management qualification) and NEBOSH (the national general certificate in occupa-
tional health and safety), and as students Leaving the wellour Service leavers consistently achieve drilled life of the above average pass rates. There are other military is a move that courses that can support the journey requires preparation into a chosen sector, and these can be accessed at our Resettlement Training Centres such as at Rosyth, or we have preferred suppliers to refer to for other courses such as offshore survival.’’ “We have a strong working relationship with OPITO, and their Oil and Gas awareness days address issues such as CV format, while these occasions also provide service leavers with the opportunity to meet employers and industry leaders, which is a great chance to network. Also, the skills mapping exercise that is currently underway is exactly what this industry needs. The geographical reach of CTP is impressive with nine UK-based Centres and one in Germany. “We don’t just deliver at home,” says McLaughlin. “We take our services wherever they are wanted — Cyprus, Gibraltar, Germany, wherever our former service personnel are to be found.” And there is considerable flexibility around service people’s discharge dates, with the job-grooming service being available up to two years before and after. So what, specifically, does the CTP offer employers? “Most companies basically know they are being offered topclass workers — people with a great work ethic, commitment and can-do attitude. They know that beyond such life skills, most service-leavers have experience and transferable practical skills that can be pretty valuable. “Our on-line job matching service, RightJob, enables their vacancies to be accessed by suitable ex-military candidates quickly and effectively.” ‘’We also organise trial work placements in addition to the numerous train- Phil McLaughlin talks ing courses and events in Scotland and of reach and flexibility
across the UK, for example presentations by individual companies on potential role availability, such as the Wood Group. We also work with Oil and Gas UK, with an event, which is on October 7 this year, attracting a huge number of Service leavers, and with Subsea UK with a similar response to that one-off event, Mobilising the UK. Plus, we have dedicated employment consultants and many other professionals to help Service leavers find and land the perfect job For Tony Starbuck, who had served in the Royal Navy for 33 years, with a family to consider, the prospect of having to start over again was dominated by uncertainty. Starbuck, who has been the Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) Resource and Training Manager for Aberdeen-based Technip over the past two years, admits it was an anxious time. “I was nervous about making the change,” he says. “I was stepping into the unknown. I just wasn’t sure what the procedures would be in companies in civilian life when it came to my area of expertise, I basically didn’t know if my skills were transferable. “When I saw the job description for the Technip post I could see it was the same kind of work that I was doing. I had a background in ROV, so I knew I’d know what I was talking about, but I was worried whether the systems or processes they used would be so different I wouldn’t be able to adapt to them. “However, all my experience in the Royal Navy put me in excellent standing. Although some processes are different, a lot is the same, so it’s basically like changing the name on the package, but it’s the same contents. “Quite a bit of it is essentially what I was doing in the latter part of my Navy career, sourcing personnel and putting them on various ships, the recruiting, training and then employment and deployment of ROV personnel. Basically, I left the Royal Navy on the Friday and started on the Monday.” The move in career also meant moving his family. But Starbuck said: “I had never anticipated I’d be working or living in Aberdeen. However, my wife and I had discussed this, we knew we had to be willing to go where the employment was.” Starbuck agrees many people in the Armed Forces don’t realise just how employable they would be outside the military and how many transferable skills they have. “The Armed Forces are excellent at multi-training, and you don’t realise how much skill you acquire, and it only really becomes evident when you look to start the transition to civilian life. In my job now, I get lots of CVs from ex-Armed Forces personnel, and as expected many do under-sell themselves. Throughout a military career you become used to adapting and being resourceful, and I think that ability is well received in jobs.” For Starbuck, the career switch has not only gone smoothly; he can also see a clear path ahead. “When it came to 12 months after I left the Navy I felt content I’d made the transition successfully,” he says. “But another 12 months on I’m now looking at progressing, and moving my career forward. Effectively I started again, and now I’m moving onwards.” For more information on the CTP and to access the pool of talent leaving the UK military each year go to www.ctp.org.uk
the times | Thursday May 1 2014
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Power of Scotland COMMERCIAL REPORT: CNR INTERNATIONAL
Innovative programme that nurtures talent of the future
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CNRI’s graduate recruitment scheme includes workshops and mentoring
NR International (CNRI) believes that a crucial factor in widening the oil and gas talent pool is the passing on of knowledge and expertise from experienced personnel to fresh recruits to the sector. In its own efforts to harness raw talent, the company has devised a comprehensive graduate recruitment scheme. The 2-3 year programme enables CNRI to not only attract rising stars but also, essentially, to develop the individuals into future leaders. The initiative is a primary tool for CNRI in its aim of continuing to possess the skills needed to drive the business on to further growth. The idea for the scheme was born a number of years ago, when CNRI recognised a requirement for a formal programme that would allow new recruits to learn and progress in a structured fashion, and not in isolation from their respective disciplines. The result is its current scheme, which accepts six fresh faces from across a range of disciplines each year. CNRI’s human resources manager, Alison Henry – who has more than 20 years’ experience within the sector –
believes that such initiatives are vital for ensuring the continued success of the industry. She said: “Recently, significant focus has been directed at converting employees from outside the oil and gas arena – for example, from the military and construction sectors. However, greater emphasis must be placed on maximising the potential within our industry, through nurturing staff. “We designed our graduate recruitment scheme to help individuals maximise their potential, so the programme is packed with beneficial workshops and mentoring sessions and we’re now reaping the rewards from our efforts. “A vital element for widening the talent pool is undoubtedly the passing on CNRI human resources manager Alison Henry is encouraged by the calibre of students she meets
of knowledge – from more experienced personnel to younger staff – and that, in essence, is the very heart of our scheme. We utilise our existing expertise to enhance the skill sets of new staff and help them fulfil their promise.” For the actual graduates, the journey to and through the initiative begins at university, where CNRI representatives present information on opportunities available at the company. Alison continued: “It’s quite difficult to articulate what we’re looking for in individuals but you know when you see it – it’s like the X-Factor. They must of course come equipped with good grades and an excellent technical aptitude but they must also have a passion for their subject. “I have to say, we are constantly encouraged by the calibre of students that we meet across university campuses. The talent is most definitely there, however, the onus is on the industry to fully develop these individuals. “That’s why we introduced our graduate recruitment programme, to ensure that we have a constant feed of fresh skills, knowledge and enthusiasm coming through. “This allows us to spot those who shine and give them the support they need to flourish.”
Ready for a change of scene? Aberdeen is your answer! With exceptional prospects and a remarkably low unemployment rate, Aberdeen was recently voted the best Scottish city to live and work, and second best in the UK. So what are you waiting for, make Aberdeen your next career move! Log on to aberdeeninvestlivevisit.co.uk/live to find out more.
the times | Thursday May 1 2014
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Power of Scotland
Subsea ØYVIND HAGEN/STATOIL
The installation of Åsgard subsea in 2013
Vital industry goes further and deeper to secure success The subsea sector has established itself as a critical part of oil and gas exploration and it is thriving on a global level, finds Rob Stokes
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t’s another day, another subsea success story. When Ennsub, a Scottish headquartered subsea design and engineering company announced earlier this month that it would double its workforce by creating up to 20 new jobs within a year, it was a red-letter day for a technology start-up launched less than two years ago. Winning a multi-million pound contract to design and make two ship-based launch and recovery systems for remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) for subsea work in oil, gas and other applications was validation of the business plans of its industry-experienced founders. These include director John Smith, the former CEO of Subsea 7, one of the global giants of the subsea industry. The contract was from ROV supplier ROVOP, Ennsub’s near neighbour in Westhill, the Aberdeenshire town acknowledged to be a centre of world class subsea engineering. On another level though, it was just
another Scottish good news story in an industry that has hardly been short of them and which is thriving worldwide, but with much of the innovation and logistics coming from the UK in general and Scotland in particular. UK employment in subsea is estimated to be around 53,000 people in more than 760 companies compared with some 430,000 employees in the wider oil and gas industry. “Subsea has become one the most critical parts of oil and gas exploration globally,” said Neil Gordon, chief executive of Subsea UK, the industry trade body that is itself based at Westhill. “When Subsea UK was formed 10 years ago, we saw that the industry was critical to the future of oil and gas and needed a voice, a representative body to support the supply chain throughout the world. Now it is recognised as a world class supply chain.” Subsea is a beacon of manufacturing, exporting and internationalisation in a UK corporate landscape short of them.
“Both the British and Scottish governments have recognised the substantial contribution of the industry to the economy,” said Oonagh Werngren, operations director at industry representative organisation Oil & Gas UK. In analysis on the UK upstream oil and gas supply chain published on April 23 and commissioned by Oil & Gas UK, accountants EY calculated the revenues of 192 UK registered marine and subsea contractors and equipment (MCSE) providers to have been around £6.9 billion in 2012. The dominance of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire in the picture was clear. 66 out of 171 equipment providers identified in the study spanning 2008-2012 had registered offices in the city and shire, and 15 out of the 21 contractors. EY found the four largest such companies — Technip UK, Subsea 7, Subsea 7 Crewing, and FMC Technologies – accounted for 39 per cent (£2.7 billion) of this. It attributed this to their ability to “secure high value contracts associated with sizeable and complex projects”. That left a sizeable 43 per cent (£3 billion) for medium-sized companies, each with annual revenue between £50 million and £250 million, and 18 per cent (£1.2 billion) for small companies with annual revenues below £50m. Other findings were that the share of
Neil Gordon, above, chief executive of Subsea UK and Oonagh Werngren, operations director, Oil & Gas UK
revenues accruing to UK headquartered companies — as defined by where the ultimate owning company was based — had risen from 41 per cent in 2009 to 50 per cent in 2012. The share of exports in that £6.9 billion for 2012 was a whopping 51 per cent, with companies identifying the four most important export markets as the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, West Africa and South East Asia. The share had fallen from 59 per cent in 2009, yet the 2012 figure represented £3.5 billion in exports against £2.7 billion three years previously, a rise of 30 per cent. Some companies based in the UK derive more than 90 per cent of their revenues from abroad, said Neil Gordon at Subsea UK: “Many of the technologies and skills developed in the North Sea over decades are in huge demand all over the world.” Recently back from a trade mission to Brazil, Gordon said there were positive moves there to encourage small and medium sized UK subsea companies to operate in the country. “Hopefully, we will see it become a more attractive place to do business.” In June, Subsea UK members will head for the Subsea Asia conference and exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Gordon said: “Many of their assets there are getting to an age where they will need to
Thursday May 1 2014 | the times
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We also showcase supply chain technologies through our website, helping small companies to raise brand awareness
ook at the technologies the UK has been sing for many years — tiebacks on subea wells and other installations to existng infrastructure, and the inspection epair and maintenance of ageing assets.” While there is industry concern over continuing decline in exploration for il and gas on the UK Continental Shelf UKCS), the drive to find economic ways o get more out of existing hydrocarbon eserves, and from new but smaller disoveries, plays into subsea’s hands. Its skills and products are in increasing emand to inspect, repair and maintain geing underwater assets; to provide ower cost production and processing olutions to develop fields; and to take oil nd gas into deeper, colder and remoter waters around the world as the era of easy oil’ draws arguably towards an end. Gordon added: “The global market will robably slow down a little bit as far as he construction phase is concerned. A ot of focus, as it already is in the UK, will e on maximising what we already have, hough there is still a lot of construction work in the UKCS.” As the industry’s value to the UK and cotland has become clearer, Subsea UK has helped to bring it together more hrough networking events and through howcases such as its annual Subsea Expo in Aberdeen. Gordon added: “We lso showcase supply chain technologies hrough channels such as our website nd magazine, helping small compaies to raise awareness of their brands. The sense of community, I would say, is nique in the oil and gas sector.” One proof is the willingness of subea technology companies to support ach other, he said. Westhill neighbours Ennsub and ROVOP have done just that. Their deal stems from ROVOP needing pecialist solutions to launch ROVs even n heavy weather from global subsea contruction specialist Ceona’s new pipelay nd construction vessel Ceona Amazon, which is due to come into service in Janury 2015. In announcing the deal, ROVOP’s irector and general manager Barry tewart highlighted how ROVOP and Ceona were focused on using “the most xperienced, expert personnel and bestn-class technology which offers a major
step change in the subsea construction market in terms of capability, reliability and quality of service”. The UK subsea industry leads the world in experience, innovation and technology and even as the North Sea moves well beyond peak oil, its subsea firms will maintain a leading technological edge, according to Subsea UK. This edge is seeing Scottish subsea operations spread their wings internationally through world class solutions and services. One example is an innovative carousel developed by Aberdeen and Peterhead based Aquatic Engineering & Construction Ltd, an Acteon company that has been involved in the North Sea almost since before first oil flowed 40 years ago. The AQCS-01-1500 carousel — a giant spool for lifting and deploying power cables and subsea components known as umbilicals and flexibles — helps the industry go into ever deeper water. It can lift 1500 tonnes (Te), taking the maximum lift from ‘only’ 300Te in 2006, an increase that dramatically increases the carousel’s potential for use in subsea installation in shallow and deep waters, onshore services, renewables, moorings, and decommissioning. Being modular, the carousel may be disassembled into pieces small enough to pack in standard
Aquatic’s carousel is a giant spool for lifting cables and subsea components
Military in line for skilled subsea jobs Subsea needs more skilled workers. Subsea UK’s programme Subsea Target, developed in collaboration with the industry, aims to fix this. It has a dedicated website but also gets out to other sectors – such as the military – to draw people into subsea. A second Mobilising the Military event this June will see invited selected companies with vacancies to fill meeting pre-screened candidates from the armed forces for conversations that could lead to formal interviews. “At last year’s event, many of the companies filled their quotas for jobs they were looking
to fill,” said UK Subsea chief executive Neil Gordon. Working with companies to develop conversion programmes for experienced employees coming in from other sectors has also been very successful, he added. “We’ve been able to share practices. How, for example, to develop a programme to give a civil engineer with lifelong project management skills the context to work in subsea. They can be working at a high level in the industry within four or five months while it could take a graduate four or five years to get to that point.”
Many companies filled their quotas at Mobilising the Military
shipping containers, and reassembled more easily than if it had to be welded. This is important for equipment that will be rented out to different clients in varied locations. “It’s now gone straight from completion in the UK to its first job, mobilised out of Singapore, and is very successful,” said Colin Barry, vice president finance at Aquatic. “It’s flexible, it fits into a series of 40 foot containers and, to our knowledge, is the only one that is truly modular. We’re now applying for patents for specific parts of the design.” The company is evaluating the equipment to decide if it should invest in a second and third machine. Despite 2013 being a bumpy year for the North Sea industry, Aquatic enjoyed 14 per cent growth in turnover and was expecting around 20 per cent to 25 per cent more this time round, he added. Growth of the Asia side of the business out of Singapore, where the company has a hub, has been “very exciting, up 112 per cent from 2012 to 2013”, he said. “We’ve proved that our model is transferable outside the UK. Having a local presence is really starting to pay dividends. We also started to see a real ramp up in North Sea activity from February into March.” Aquatic’s next focus will be the Americas. Work in the US is currently supported from its Scottish bases. “But we want to get some proper traction on the ground there, to get some better visibility,” Barry said. The February 2014 launch in Aberdeen of a long awaited Oil and Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC) will spur the development of technologies including subsea from Scotland. “The hard work starts now as we set up an organisation and management team,” David Rennie, head of oil and gas at development agency Scottish Enterprise that co-ordinated development of OGIC’s business plan with 12 universities and 2,300 oil and gas operators and service companies. “This is about transformational change as everyone knows that the future of the
David Rennie stresses ideas shared between industry and academia
North Sea supply chain is about innovation. We want to get many more ideas and projects shared between academia and industry and get additional funding for these ideas.” Rennie said he hoped that a revitalised National Subsea Research Institute (NSRI) would work closely with OGIC in Aberdeen. NSRI is an industry led partnership between the UK subsea sector and academia. Scottish Enterprise and Subsea UK are working with both organisations to develop the way forward. “Everyone knows how important subsea is to the industry and northeast Scotland. Something like 45 per cent of the world’s subsea activity takes place in the UK, with the vast majority of that in Scotland, so we must have a subsea centre of research and development excellence.” While independent, NSRI would effectively be the subsea industry link with OGIC, he suggested. Industry support is in evidence. “Companies such as Subsea 7 and BP have provided some financial backing for the NSRI,” Rennie said. OGIC’s focus will be largely, though not exclusively, on smaller companies with innovative ideas. With public finds of £10.6 million pledged to it, the target is to leverage in another £26 million and to deliver 100 projects over five years. “The good thing about OGIC is that it has involved much discussion with industry, industry associations and academia, so everyone knows the challenges as well as the opportunities and there is real momentum to make it successful.”
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Getting to the bottom of it
We’re increasingly being asked to drill or manage the drilling of wells in deep water and remote locations
One industry leader is pushing the boundaries of drilling technology, discovers Neil Clark
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rillers are among the clients who call on subsea contractors. AGR, the world’s largest independent well management group, has drilled wells in water deeper than 6,000 feet, and has managed the drilling of 34,000 feet high pressure, high temperature wells, “We’re increasingly being asked to do this in deepwater and remote locations,” said Bill Fletcher, vice president well management (UK and Africa) of Aberdeen based AGR, part of the Oslo stock exchange-listed AGR Group. AGR is the leading well, HSQE (health, safety, environmental and quality), reservoir and field management service company delivering solutions for the entire field life cycle. It also provides tailored training, software and consultancy manpower to clients globally.
AGR’s recent projects managed from Aberdeen office include two deepwater drilling campaigns in the Falklands, and a well off Equatorial Guinea involving a large, dual activity drillship that can carry out simultaneous drilling operations. Project managing all elements of a campaign, including logistics and the involvement of subsea contractors and equipment, can be part of the remit. Earlier this year, AGR passed a milestone, having drilled or managed the drilling of 500 well projects globally in 13 years. “This is more than any other independent company providing outsourced well management,” Fletcher said. On average, AGR has since 2000, started a new drilling project every 10 days somewhere, in 25 countries spread over six continents. “It’s an example of how we are taking our expertise from the
North Sea and using it to add value to clients as the company moves into international operations,” Fletcher said. More than 200 of those wells were in the Gulf of Mexico, 100-plus off the UK and Ireland, 80-plus offshore Norway, more than 50 off Australia, 40-plus in waters off West Africa, and 22 in the Southern Atlantic. It has drilled the most northern wells in the Barents Sea. This continuing internationalisation is underlined by the tally of people that it has trained as one of its business activities: 25,000 in 45 countries on six continents. Growth has been “steady”, Fletcher said, and the company is looking to
Bill Fletcher says that since 2000, AGR has started a new drilling project every 10 days through 25 countries
recruit again to add to a head count that in February stood at 645, “We are currently managing four drilling operations,” he said. Targets for vacancies include subsurface geology and geophysics people for reservoir management, and drilling engineers, completions and test engineers, superintendents and project managers for well management. For the team in Aberdeen, next up is a major drilling campaign in the Mediterranean: first a well offshore Malta, followed by several offshore Morocco. Additional workscopes in West Africa and the Caribbean also figure in potential workflow this year. Aberdeen is the nerve centre for activity in the UK and Africa regions, with planning usually taking place in Scotland and operational teams in various countries being supported by the team in Aberdeen. AGR’s main hubs are in Norway, UK, Australia, US and the Middle East.
www.aquaticsubsea.com/40
The Americas | Europe, Middle East & Africa | Asia Pacific
WORLD CLASS YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW Trust us to get our people and equipment where you want it, when you need it, for as long as you have to have it. Aquatic celebrating 40 years in the North Sea.
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Feature
Rewarding window of
The Highlands and Islands are in the forefront of the subsea boom, driven by a demand for quality in increasingly extreme conditions, writes Simon Gray
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ompanies in the Highlands and Islands are sharing in the subsea bonanza as they respond with engineering and electronic skills across project design, fabrication, installation, testing, commissioning, inspection, repair and maintenance. Power of Scotland talked to five companies illustrating the supply chain’s response to opportunities flowing from the needs of the oil and gas, offshore wind, and wave and tidal energy industries. The experiences of Mackellar SubSea, Scotland Electronics International, Calder Engineering, JGC Engineering & Technical Services and The Underwater Centre also highlight how Highlands and Islands has the requisite infrastructure, space to invest and grow, land and buildings, deep water ports, transport and skilled labour close to where these factors are needed by these industries. They also export overseas. Founded in 1975, Mackellar Sub-Sea is a well-established, one-stop engineering, fabrication, machining and coating business recognised throughout the oil and gas industry globally. Based at Grantown-on-Spey, southeast of Inverness, it also operates from facilities in Elgin and Kinloss as well as quaysides including Aberdeen. Its markets are oil and gas, offshore and onshore wind, wave, tidal and hydroelectric. Aside from manufacturing, it offers project support in manufacturing resource planning (MRP), engineering, draughting, and office accommodation for client inspectors and engineers, as well as corrosion continuity protection. Though its range of products and services is much wider, its subsea contracts have included wellhead protection systems, tree frames, guide bases, debris caps and other products. Its products are deployed globally. In recent years it has provided subsea equipment and components for ExxonMobil’s Kizomba deepwater oil drilling project off Angola; the Chevron-led Gorgon gas project off Australia; and for BP in Brazil. “We are growing our business and putting it in a position to meet demand from offshore sub-sea developments by creating our largest investment in training, personnel, plant and technology to satisfy and exceed our customer expectation,” said Duncan Mackellar, director. Growth in both domestic and international markets has given Mackellar SubSea confidence to expand to occupy a
five-acre, purpose-built facility comprising a fabrication, machine and assembly shops, office space and stores, and a stock yard, coating and assembly area. The company employs 120 and was recently looking to recruit fabricators and skilled or demonstrably experienced tradesmen. Scotland Electronics International — based at Forres, Moray — designs, develops, makes and supplies high performance, precision motor-drive electronics for demanding downhole, deep sea, defence and aerospace motion control applications. Its power supply, motor drive and communication solutions for oil and gas are found downhole in tractor, plugging, casing and fishing tools and other applications. It also provides topside (platform of rig based) systems that manage and control the subsea systems’ power, communication, control and data capture. The topside systems support downhole, deep sea blowout preventers (BOPS) and remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs). The market is being driven by demand for quality, reliable motion control products that can work at high temperature and pressure downhole in oil and gas, and in aerospace and defence applications. The ability of drive electronics to maximise motor performance is equally important. “The move to electronic actuation down hole is driving subsea well completion companies to outsource electronic design and build,” said Mike Ramsay, CEO. “This outsourcing trend extends to requiring a complete tool or product. So we have started to partner with companies offering complementary services to provide a complete design, build and lifetime support, including field return and upgrade capability.” Looking to the future, he said: “We have a world class new product development team that continually assesses customer needs and develops innovative and advanced design solutions to meet and exceed them.” The company is currently designing small footprint, high temperature electronic designs that allow customers to reduce overall tool size and improve the reliability and speed of service of equipment where required. “Our focus is on further developing our current robust designs to meet the ever increasing extreme environmental conditions that our customers must explore and support into the future,” said Ramsay. “As a harsh- and extreme-environment electronics design, manufacturing and service company, we have been investing year on year in our capabilities to ensure that we are at the forefront in this exciting and demanding market place.” Calder Engineering, Thurso, Caithness is a growing multidisciplinary engineering company that has been doing precision engineering work for national and international customers in the offshore and onshore energy industries since 1988. It works with clients from project design through fabrication, installation, trials and commissioning. It currently serves the oil and gas, offshore and onshore wind, wave and tidal energy, nuclear and marine industries
and stands to benefit from the planned ramp up of marine renewables projects in the challenging waters of the nearby Pentland Firth between Caithness and Orkney. Subsea elements of wave machines may include: hydraulic pipelines made of plastic and steel depending on the pressure; carbon steel spool supports and protection frames; aluminium alloy sacrificial anodes to prevent corrosion; and steel anchors to tether wave machines
and pipelines to seabed rock. “The subsea elements of work we do for clients probably account for 15% of turnover and I would like to see that rise to 50 per cent in the coming years,” said Colin Calder, co-founder and owner. The company is innovating towards that end. It is on the verge of patenting a proprietary subsea anchor that will improve the fastening to the seabed of a range of installations for oil, gas, renewables and other applications. “We already
Wick Airport reurn flights to Aberdeen allow business trips to be made to Europe’s offshore oil capital in a day
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opportunity Divers training at the Underwater Centre at Fort William, based on the edge of Loch Linnhe, where offshore conditions are replicated
have clients interested,” Calder said. Its recent track record includes fabrication, installation, on-site commissioning and pressure testing on marine renewables projects with the fabrication side including devices and pipework. Its proprietary products include accommodation cabins for offshore wind certified by DNV GL, the global group that sets technical standards for a range of industries. However, Calder Engineering also works with clients to tailor services and products to their needs. In a sign of confidence about its prospects, it is currently recruiting engineering trades. Calder Engineering exports worldwide: being based in the far north is no impediment to international sales of precision engineered products. Colin Calder said costs for shipping engineering products and components from Thurso are negligible compared with the value of equipment: “It costs as much to ship from Aberdeen to continental Europe as it does from Thurso.” Companies along the Caithness coast have modern, deep water harbours at Scrabster and Wick from which to ship parts and full assemblies in and out for offshore oil and gas developments West of Shetland and in the northern North Sea, for offshore wind power projects, and for the coming wave of marine renewables. Wick airport is only 20 minutes from Thurso and has three return flights a day to Europe’s offshore oil capital, Aberdeen,
Massive growth in key producing provinces worldwide is driving the need for more people
so business trips in either direction can be made in a single day. Nuclear industry skills have contributed to those available to local employers as nuclear reactors at nearby Dounreay have moved further into the decommissioning phases to be completed by 2025. JGC Engineering & Technical Services, Thurso, worked predominantly for the nuclear sector for the first 20 years of operations but has successfully diversified into the offshore oil, gas, wave and tidal energy sectors and has gained framework contracts in the power generation, marine and utilities industries. From industry leading facilities, it manufactures and develops high quality engineered products and services, using its extensive skills in mechanical, electrical, controls and instrumentation engineering. With oil and gas industry clients including, among others, Subsea 7, NOV Elmar, Wood Group PSN and Stork Technical Services, it derives around 50 per cent of turnover from subsea related work, said Will Campbell, director. Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, JGC has won manufacturing contracts for equipment to improve safety in offshore oil and gas, including BOP intervention equipment and high pressure testing containment. Other recent contracts have included fabrication, assembly and testing of ROV launching and recovery systems, mew mezzanine deck structures for vessels, and fabrication of structures including a new 400 tonne launchway for Subsea 7’s subsea pipeline manufacturing facility at Wick. JGC’s initial pedigree in the UK’s nuclear industry meant it was already working to very high standards before increasing its involvement in the oil and gas industry over the past 15 years. “We have not found it difficult to diversify beyond nuclear,” Campbell said. “The safety, standards and operating principles found in the oil and gas sector are in many ways very similar. We have ambitious plans to strengthen and grow within oil and gas in the next few years.” The Underwater Centre on Loch Linnhe at Fort William is in its 40th year of meeting the global subsea industry’s needs for diver and ROV operator training, and for equipment trials. Loch Linnhe, a sheltered tidal sealoch with depths from four metres to 150 metres, is close to the centre’s secure private pier, so appeals to companies undertaking trials work. The centre’s engineering support team has extensive experience in the marine industry, providing support at a fraction of the cost and operational considerations of going offshore. Its subsea training replicates working conditions offshore and is seeing steady growth in training candidates for operating ROVs and for diving. “Oil and gas is incredibly busy,” said general manager Steven Ham. “UK offshore renewables have needed a lot of diving work in recent years and some of that is ongoing with the announcement of new developments. Several companies employing our candidates on offshore
Sound investment brings results Energy market opportunities are reflected in Highlands and Islands Enterprises’ strategic spend on infrastructure. They include: • Infrastructure improvement at the former NATO airbase at Machrihanish near Campbeltown, Kintyre, which hosts tower manufacturing for renewables activity, and the local airport. • Part-funding of the development of a masterplan for redevelopment of the large dry dock at Kishorn, Wester Ross, which is well placed for development of wind, wave and tidal energy resources off West of Scotland. • Investing £2.95m to create industrial units next to Hatston Pier, Kirkwall, Orkney for wave and tidal and energy developers using the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), which was established in 2003 with HIE’s backing.
• Supporting development at Arnish on Lewis of a major manufacturing site tenanted by Burntisland Fabricators (BiFab) to support fabrication work for oil and gas and offshore renewables. • A £20m upgrade of port infrastructure at Scrabster, Caithness, anticipating construction and supply chain needs of the offshore wind and wave energy industries as well as oil and gas developments West of Shetland. • Providing £1.8m towards Global Energy Group’s purchase of a fabrication site at Nigg, Easter Ross, where 1,200 people are now employed and a skills academy aims to have trained up to 3,000 people between 2012 and 2015. • The 100-acre Enterprise Park Forres, which is now attracting engineering and electronics companies focused on energy clients.
The £20 million port upgrade at Scrabster anticipates supply chain needs renewables projects are working overseas: Germany is very active in developing offshore renewables” He continued. “Massive growth in other key oil and gas producing provinces worldwide is driving the need to pull more people into the industry.” Demand for facilities to test subsea equipment in realistic conditions is also growing as challenges faced by the oil and gas industry require a huge investment in new technology, Ham said. He foresees a significant rise in demand for ROV personnel, so the centre has developed new and innovative ROV courses. “One is an introduction to bolt tensioning and commercial enriched air nitrox training, and we have invested massively in a work class ROV vessel to deliver ROV training in a contextual experience environment,” said Ham. Engineering and technical skills in the Highlands and Islands come from sources including: seasoned oil and gas offshore and onshore fabrication workers; Dounreay; the whisky industry; the Royal Air Force base at Lossiemouth, Moray; the marine industries; utilities; and from apprenticeship schemes, schools, and the colleges in the University of the Highlands and Islands. Ken Grant of HIE points to change as oil and gas fields become more mature
For example, a small cluster of energy related companies is emerging in Moray to capitalise on local skills while remaining in easy reach of Aberdeen. The Moray area — home to Scotland Electronics International — has more than 8,000 people working in engineering disciplines, quite apart from those that are in the RAF. Some 116,000 people of working age are within an hour’s drive of Elgin. 16 per cent of the workforce has a skilled trade. 17 per cent work in energy, water and manufacturing. Moray’s maritime industries are another source of skilled recruits. The public sector is supportive of growth companies such as those featured here. “We work to make companies aware of opportunities and how they can tap into that,” said Ken Grant, head of oil and gas at the economic and community development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). “As oil and gas fields become more mature, operators are looking for greater efficiency in oil recovery, and wells being exploited now are deeper, higher pressure and higher temperature, which is pushing technology limits.” He continued: “This forces innovation, for example, in new materials that can withstand these pressures and temperatures, and in welding techniques. Innovative Highlands and Islands companies have a unique role to the play in these and other developments.” “Systems control and monitoring, instrumentation, communications and other areas are all evolving as oil and gas become increasingly subsea,” he added. “There is less mechanical technology being used. It is smarter stuff now, and that creates opportunities for our suppliers as you can see from the range that we have and are continuing to attract.”
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Someone to manage the global itinerary Overseas markets may be good for the energy sector but the complexities of worldwide travel pose challenges to companies on foreign trips or trade missions, writes Ginny Clark
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cotland’s oil and gas industry stretches far beyond the North Sea to the remotest corners of the planet, with firms now active in 100 markets throughout the world. The resulting global business travel can bring its own challenges, with employees not only involved in regular trips for meetings and trade missions, but also spending more lengthy periods in other countries, to recruit or to work on existing projects. This means finding the right accommodation, ensuring travel arrangements are as smooth as possible, and also Graham Ross of FCm says that obtaining visas has become more difficult in recent years
securing the necessary visas and documentation. However, this isn’t just about moving people from A to B, it’s about moving them from A to B, and back to A again, safely. The introduction of the Corporate Homicide Act in Scotland, in 2008, means that keeping employees safe and secure while they are travelling is a legal requirement. Graham Ross, Scotland Sales Director for FCm Travel Solutions, one of the world’s leading corporate travel and expense management consultancies, says many companies, particularly SMEs, can struggle with the complexities of all these issues. “Within the oil and gas industry, there can be so much travel involved, it can involve long periods away for some
workers, or frequent journeys for specific projects over weeks, months and years,” he says. “Our consultant teams get involved in every aspect of travel and accommodation arrangement, but also in terms of securing visas. “We effectively offer a one-stop shop, as so many visa requests also need to be supported by letters concerning hotels and transport, and we can manage this all on a client’s behalf. Securing visas can be challenging at best, but it’s become even harder in recent years. Consulate services differ, some dealing with personal requests and others referred online. Also, certain consulate services in the UK only provide services for UK citizens, so if you are applying in the UK for a USA passport holder it can be more problematic. “Obviously, the oil and gas industry has created a particular strong link between the UK and the USA, and the ongoing Aberdeen-Houston Gateway initiative from Granite PR has been particularly useful. “We’ve taken part in these live videolink conferences, where it’s lunch here and breakfast time over there, and you hear a lot of Scottish accents on the other side. These events are not only for promoting business and exploring new opportunities, but the discussions also provide a chance to network and to try to bridge the gap on issues such as repatriation. “There is a Global Visa Waiver programme operated by the USA open to business travellers from certain countries, including the UK, but they must also meet specific criteria, and to get on the list they may also need the sponsorship of certain airlines as very frequent flyers. It’s a select few that can utilise these benefits, so we also have to manage some companies’ expectations on this. “There are some big challenges concerning visa applications. Lately, there has been a lot of travel to Azerbaijan, but delays have happened because letters
Getting on to the USA’s frequent flyer list for its visa waiver programme may need the sponsorship of airlines
have gone missing or there have been language difficulties in processing documentation. Because we’re dealing with tight deadlines, managing these changes is important. Angola, and West Africa in general, is a huge emerging market. However, there, once a visa is approved, you could only have a two-day window to get someone out to meet time requirements. It should be a simple process, but every visa application is different.” The benefits of turning to a specialist such as FCm Travel Solutions can quickly become clear. Company administrators may think: ‘Now we have the internet, booking travel is easy’, but there is significant potential for problems. “We can take the pain out of the booking process, acting as a shield to make it seem an easy process,” says Ross. “Also, travel risk management (TRM) is now part of corporate law. It’s interesting that for an industry such as oil and gas,
Consultancies such as FCm offer a one-stop shop, including hotels
so focused for the last quarter century on the safety of their installations, procedures and systems following the terrible Piper Alpha disaster, companies are often potentially unaware of how businesses such as FCm can assist in placing the same focus on employees who may be travelling abroad in planes, trains, buses and taxis. Particularly in high-risk areas, it’s not just about the booking process, but making sure employees can be located and contacted quickly if anything does happen. “Companies can enhance this manually, putting a system in place so travellers call and check-in at various stages of their journey. For instance, if someone hops in a taxi, a company will know this trip should take 20 minutes, and if there is no call after 30 minutes then it has to be taken seriously. “However, if that’s an SME, perhaps with only half a dozen people working there, they simply can’t always resource that level of process. So our aim is to bridge that gap, and provide the service for them. As part of this, we’ve just launched a new product offering traveller tracker monitoring so a company can see where there employees are at any time.” FCm Travel Solutions have teamed up with iJET International to create a TRM programme that provides their clients with a suite of cost-effective solutions. This new TRM solution combines iJET’s risk intelligence and global response hotline with FCm’s technology and operations in an expansion of their existing Secure programme that will be rolled out over this year. Secure Start is free to FCm clients, acting as a base for building an individual TRM programme, Secure Protect features paid-for add-ons and Secure Outreach is a global response hotline available for clients that require support above and beyond reservations and logistics. Secure Start still gives FCm clients free access to features that include a custom
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Paul Edmunds is chief executive of Island GIS
version of iJET’s globally leading risk alerts and GPS-based traveller tracking, explains Ross. “In the coming years, TRM is going to become an increasing priority for companies, who will also want to know they are covered from a legal standpoint,” he adds. Communication is at the heart of any successful TRM strategy, and Edinburgh based GIS Services consultancy, Island GIS has been involved in a joint venture to develop an innovative tool designed to optimise reporting and contactability between travellers, their company administrators, and also their family members, when they are working away. Paul Edmunds, chief executive of Island GIS, is also chief executive and co-founder of Levima, a joint venture between his company and Mobile Healthcare Networks (MHN) that provides an innovative TRM system with four core modules — dynamic risk assessment, an automated itinerary builder, a mobile check-in service and a detailed reporting suite. The system combines Island GIS’s
advanced GEO mapping software with technology from MHN, and in addition to being a Google Enterprise Partner, provides clients with tailored, full customised solutions that integrated with existing company systems as opposed to relying on Travel Operators. “Levima has been developed using in-depth knowledge of the sector’s requirements,” says Edmunds. “With ever increasing legislative requirements regarding corporate responsibility, duty of care and risk management requirements in industry, companies are constantly under increasing pressure to manage and to have control over the location and welfare of their employees when travelling internationally. “Continuing developments in drilling technology, and new discoveries of reserves, would suggest prospects within the industry are solid, and consequently, with new travel frontiers opening up, more people involved at all levels of the process are having to move around the globe. “Oil-producing countries are on virtually every continent and companies face a variety of political and social landscapes and infrastructures. With this comes a requirement for in-depth and trusted knowledge, in particular when trips involve travel to diverse and remote locations. The importance of using techniques to advance the management of the risks associated with travel is crucial in an industry so broad in its geographical nature. “Under development since 2009, Levima promotes direct and indirect
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With new travel frontiers opening up, more people at all levels are moving around the globe
communication between companies and their employees, reducing corporate risk, improving organisational control and improving corporate efficiencies by integrating into travel management workflows.” Tried and tested in the industry, Edmunds says Levima is flexible, can be scaled and customised to individual corporate requirements, and fully integrated into existing IT infrastructures, continually providing live information on travel risk and employee whereabouts. “Critically, it gives assurance to employees as individuals, that they are each supported,” he says. “These assurances are vital when there is a large amount of traveller traffic to high-risk areas, undertaking complex trip itineraries, where multi-faceted logistical issues, such as urgent visa requests, flight changes and unforeseen risk, are commonplace. This understanding, together with Island GIS’ advanced mapping and technology knowledge, has resulted in a dynamic travel management platform which complements corporate duty of care and simultaneously reaches each individual.” What is important, as both FCm Travel Solutions and Island GIS stress, is that employees need to be reassured about their safety and wellbeing when travelling on behalf of their company. “The law demands that companies take the necessary steps to protect their employees, but if individual employees themselves also feel confident in the TRM systems and processes that are in place, then clearly the more effective they will be.
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