Bibby Offshore announces a successful first quarter of the year for its recently opened Newcastle office.
With existing premises in Aberdeen and Liverpool, Bibby Offshore is expanding its presence across the UK. Since its opening in November 2013, the Newcastle office has employed 23 skilled personnel, with a further ten to be recruited in the coming months. The 4724sqft office, located in Gateshead Quays on the River Tyne, will provide Bibby Offshore with an excellent hub in the region both now and as it increases staff numbers and service offerings in the future.
The team in Newcastle is supporting North Sea UKCS projects, equipped with a multi disciplined project management team. However, it is anticipated that following on from the success of the company’s Liverpool office there will be opportunities to utilise the team’s skills further afield as the fast growing company rolls out its services overseas.
Shawn Bulgen, Project Director , said: “Our expansion into the north east of England is in response to the industry-wide skills shortage. For a number of years skilled engineering professionals have been commuting to Aberdeen based oil and gas companies on a weekly basis. Our expansion into Newcastle will make us well placed to attract talent from the strong engineering tradition in the region.”
Since its inception ten years ago, Bibby Offshore has experienced unprecedented growth. It now employs more than 1,200 people onshore and offshore with offices in Aberdeen, Liverpool, Singapore, Houston and Trinidad. The company now has an international fleet of eight subsea support vessels and 15 Remote Operating Vehicles (ROV), which will continue to increase to meet demand. The company has an extensive backlog of committed work and its Newcastle office offers clients a dedicated and self-sufficient project management team in the local area, in partnership with locally based technology manufacturers.
Following the successful delivery of a fast-tracked Inspection, Repair and Maintenance (IRM) project in Tunisia, that came in on schedule and under budget; the team in Newcastle is currently working on a number of projects for prestigious local and international clients that include IRM, riser and umbilical installations, decommissioning and an annual IRM contract for a Danish company.
To launch the new office, an event inviting local businesses, friends and colleagues is planned for Tuesday 20 th May at the premises, followed by a drinks reception and networking event nearby. A brief presentation will be given by Howard Woodcock, Bibby Offshore Chief Executive, and Shawn Bulgen, Bibby Offshore Project Director.
In May 2013, Bibby Offshore relocated to its new multimillion pound, purpose built headquarters in Westhill, Aberdeen, and recently opened additional new 50,000sqft storage, workshop, warehouse, office space, a yard and maintenance facilities called ‘The Hangar’. Bibby Offshore’s sustained growth and success was acknowledged in February this year when it won the Company of the Year award at the 2014 Subsea Expo Awards, which recognises excellence in overall company performance in the subsea sector based on developments to date, as well as plans for future success and growth, both within the UK and internationally
Press Release, May 20, 2014