Aker Solutions Expands Presence in North East England

International oil services group Aker Solutions is set to ramp up its presence in the north east of England. The company aims to create up to 100 jobs in its new Stockton-on-Tees engineering office over the next three years.

Aker Solutions’ drilling technologies business will be the main occupant in the new office, which is located right next to the company’s current premises at the Preston Farm industrial estate, Stockton-on-Tees, UK.

The office will house product engineers who will be working on a wide range of topside drilling equipment. Aker Solutions is one of the top-two global suppliers of deepwater drilling packages for offshore drilling rigs and drillships.

“We are well aware of the excellent oil and gas engineering competence in the north east of England. We are experiencing significant growth, so we want to tap into this market to further support both our UK and international customers,” says Thor Arne Håverstad, head of Aker Solutions drilling technologies business.

The new engineering office has a capacity of 100 people. Aker Solutions aims to hire 30 by year-end. But the long-term ambition is to utilise the entire office capacity.

“The north east region has a proud industrial heritage with a huge engineering competence base. Additionally, it contains several excellent educational institutions that produce exactly the type of competence we need, for example structural and mechanical engineers. We also know that many engineers commute from the north east to other parts of the UK. Hopefully our plans will make some of them consider Stockton-on-Tees as an even more attractive option,” adds Thor Arne Håverstad.

Aker Solutions has a history in Stockton-on-Tees that dates back to 1986. Today the company has approximately 100 employees in Stockton-on-Tees. This team provides support services to Aker Solutions globally within IT, finance, accounting and HR. Up to 20 employees will be added to the global business services operation over the next two years.

The current premises also house a team that provides engineering support on platform upgrade and maintenance projects on both the UK and Norwegian continental shelves. In addition, Aker Solutions’ specialist recruitment consultancy, Aker Advantage, also has an office in Stockton-on-Tees.

Aker Solutions will move into its new Stockton-on-Tees office at the end of October.

Earlier this year Aker Solutions announced that it is looking to grow its Aberdeen operation with 500 jobs over the next two years. Additionally, the company aims to build up a 1 700-strong London engineering hub – thereby creating 1 300 new jobs – by 2015.

Today, Aker Solutions has approximately 3 200 employees in the UK. The company is one of Scotland’s largest employers with a workforce of more than 2 700 people in Aberdeen. In addition to Aberdeen, London and Stockton-on-Tees, the company has smaller offices and facilities in Great Yarmouth, Hastings, Maidenhead, and Whitstable. The company employs 25 000 people worldwide, and has annual revenues of approximately GBP 3.9 billion.

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Press Release, September 19, 2012