In the Press
Oil and gas firm makes investment in people to reach peak performance
Date: 17/11/08
While many energy firms have been affected by the global credit crisis and recent drop in oil prices, specialist wireline tool manufacturer, Peak Well Services, has bucked the trend by increasing its Aberdeen, Scotland workforce and moving into new premises.
Gordon Angus has been appointed as regional managing director and will oversee the companies operations across Europe and Africa. Taking up the role of wireline and intervention specialist is Andy Stewart, who will be joined by office manager, Helen Rankin. Having outgrown their previous office, the team, which includes regional sales manager, Scott Mitchell, now operate from new premises in the city.
Having quickly outgrown its previous office, the appointments were made to ensure the company could service the regional industry demand and achieve its aim of expanding into Norway and Africa. Andy Stewart's appointment is to support a new range of Simlock retrievable bridge plug tools and services which have been developed, while an extended offshore support provision is also on offer. With almost 70 years industry experience between them, the regional team is well placed to take advantage of the many opportunities in the area.
Further investment in the industry has already been planned, with staff numbers expected to reach thirty in the next few years and construction starting shortly on a new custom-built, facility in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The 7,000 square foot base will initially be used for the sale and rental of tools and follow-up training and offshore services. However, as the company aims to replicate its Perth, Australia operations, there is scope to include the design and manufacture of tools from the new base.
Regional managing director, Gordon Angus, said: "Our new appointments and office move show that we are committed to the North Sea oil market and see the region as a major growth area.
"Since it launched from a standing start in 2002, our Perth operation now employs around 60 people and is expected to turnover £10 million this year. A major factor in this success has been penetrating the Asia-Pacific market and servicing of theinternational slickline providers.We know there is a similar demand for our services in the North Sea and as such, I am confident that our Aberdeen business can achieve this level of growth in a similar timeframe.
"We will continue to invest in tool design to enhance our range and size of tools as this will open up new markets and increase our customer base. While our tools are currently designed and manufactured in Perth, our intention is to employ a regional design engineer to provide support for our customers in the North Sea and beyond. Once our new base is up and running and staff numbers have reached our expected levels, we will look to establish manufacturing capabilities which will cater for the forecast demand across the North Sea, Europe and Africa regions."
