World Day for Safety and Health at Work will be marked on Sunday 28 April. Recently appointed Group HSE Director at EnerMech, Emmanuelle Marshall, talks about how the safe working practices which protect us and colleagues from harm need to be front of mind every single working day.
“World Safety Day impacts all EnerMech staff, wherever in the world they happen to be working, but it is worth reminding ourselves that health and safety is not just for one day.
“HSE has been at the forefront of all of EnerMech’s operations since we were established in 2008, and as we continue to grow and expand, HSE continues to be a critical part of our journey and one on which we must be constantly improving.
“In the next five years EnerMech will undergo a major transformation and HSE will play a critical role in successfully implementing the changes which are required to take our business through the next phase of development. Our leadership on all matters health and safety related is recognised by our customers and our industry peers, but on World Safety Day it is worth taking stock and acknowledging that we can always do better and that we are obliged to constantly improve on existing HSE standards.
“One of my objectives in my role as HSE Director will be to leverage innovative approaches, using connected worker technology and mobile apps for example, to enhance the contribution my department makes to delivering business value across the group. We are already looking at new ways of transforming the HSE function so that it become less of a reporting function and more of a support function across our various business streams and this will be an ongoing process.
“The HSE vision of EnerMech is to not only protect the health and safety of our employees but to also protect the communities and the environment in which we work. We can all contribute to that vision on World Day for Safety and Health at Work by reflecting on our daily contribution and how we as individuals can ensure that EnerMech is one of the safest places in the world in which to work.”
There is little doubt John Morrison can be described as a veteran of the offshore cranes and lifting industry given that earlier this month he celebrated his 40th anniversary since first entering the engineering sector.
Another milestone comes in Stavanger on 24 April when John will attend the 24th International Offshore Crane and Lifting Conference, having served on the organising committee for 17 of those 24 years.
John completed a general engineering apprenticeship in Aberdeen in 1976 at a time when the city was on the verge of being transformed by the discovery of oil in the North Sea. Like many apprentices he recognised the many career opportunities that lay within this “new” industry and worked in a number of positions with offshore crane companies over the next 12 years, gaining an engineering degree along the way, before forming his own business in 1988 with co-director Bert Middleton.
Based in Aberdeen, Specialist Maintenance Services (SMS) and its Great Yarmouth based sister company A1 Safety Training Consultants, became strongly established in the oil and gas sector and employed more than 160 staff globally.
The businesses caught the eye of industry newcomer EnerMech and in 2008 SMS and A1 became EnerMech’s first acquisitions. Fast forward to 2019 and EnerMech’s Mechanical Handling Services division (cranes & lifting, hydraulics and training) employs more than 900 staff across the North Sea and in Norway, the Middle East, Caspian USA, Asia, Australasia and Africa.
EnerMech’s International Director for Mechanical Handling Services may have 40 years under his belt but he has lost none of his enthusiasm for a sector which he views as one of the most exciting industries to be involved in.
He said: “There have been many changes of the last four decades, including a much stronger emphasis on having the correct procedures and processes in place, and at EnerMech we regard safety to be paramount in everything we do.”
Not surprisingly technology has transformed the lifting industry, having a hugely positive impact on the design of cranes and on their safety and capabilities which are now deployed onshore and offshore. John, a classic car fan, uses a motoring analogy: “When I started in the business, the cranes in use could be compared to a Ford Cortina, whereas now happily we have access to the equivalent of Jaguars, BMWs or Audis.”
Emerging technologies and specifically Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the use of big data will continue to shape the cranes and lifting sector and John will chair a session on Standards and Research at the upcoming IOCL conference, while EnerMech colleague and MInteg director Patrick Gallagher is a conference speaker on “Inspection – The Future”.
Following the global energy sector downturn, one challenge facing the industry lies in recruitment and encouraging new entrants to follow John’s example in enjoying a fulfilling career.
He added: “EnerMech has an excellent apprentice and graduate programme and we are proactive in attracting the next generation of designers, technicians and engineers but the downturn led to large numbers of people leaving the industry. It is forecast that we are facing yet another skills shortage and it may be more difficult to get young people to consider a career in cranes and lifting, but the job has everything – engineering, electrical, hydraulics and mechanical - and to my mind is a very exciting place to earn your living.”
EnerMech has appointed Emmanuelle Marshall as Group HSE Director. She will be responsible for global health, safety and environment at the Aberdeen-headquartered mechanical and electrical services specialist.
Previously she was BP lead for the multi-national’s global HSE Learning and Development capability and over an 18 year period at Schlumberger she fulfilled a number of senior roles in HSE, technology and learning in the USA, Europe and Africa.
EnerMech chief executive officer, Doug Duguid, said the appointment underlines the company’s commitment to delivery of the most stringent HSE standards across its 40 global locations.
Mr Duguid said: “Emmanuelle will work closely with our HSE teams across our regions to maintain our focus on the health and safety of our workforce, improve on our safety practices and to ensure consistency across the group. This appointment demonstrates our long term commitment to our HSE delivery as we continue to invest and to grow our business across all of our markets globally.”
Emmanuelle Marshall added: “I was impressed by the EnerMech mindset that no business objective comes ahead of HSE and that health and safety is treated as absolutely critical to the future success of the business.
“This is a fantastic opportunity and I have joined EnerMech at a very exciting time as it embarks on the next phase of growth, following a successful first 10 years in which it has enjoyed huge success across the major international oil and gas hubs and made significant inroads in to other allied industries.”
With an estimated $200 billion-plus in LNG capex projects underway in the United States, EnerMech believes it can increase its market share Stateside by capitalising on its wide-ranging experience of big ticket Australian LNG projects.
Operational expertise and extensive customer relationships developed through the build-out of large scale Australian LNG infrastructure projects has provided a US market-entry advantage for EnerMech, which employs 3500 staff globally.
Through 2018 and into 2019 EnerMech, the integrated mechanical and electrical services specialist, had personnel onsite at four US LNG facilities, (Freeport LNG, Cameron LNG, Elba Island and Corpus Christi).
While recognising the customer base is different, Mark Duncan, EnerMech’s Senior Vice President Americas, believes investment in equipment, strategic bases and high quality people, will help extend initial pre-commissioning work in to operations and maintenance contracts.
He said: “Market activity in LNG, mid-stream, downstream and petrochemical plants in the US is increasing and we are pursuing a large amount of project work for 2019 through to 2022. Our integrated services capability is a major advantage over competitors and we are seeing interest from our customers in both the construction and operations and maintenance areas.”
The rollcall of Australian projects undertaken by EnerMech encompasses every major LNG development, from Woodside, Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone, Inpex Ichthys to Curtis Island’s QCLNG, GLNG and APLNG, and covers construction, pre-commissioning and commissioning, shutdown and maintenance phases.
EnerMech Australia General Manager, Michael Smith, is confident the foundations are in place for building on existing LNG relationships and rolling out EnerMech’s wider services portfolio to clients.
He said: “This has been a major focus and we continue to drive and share innovation whilst promoting collaboration across the business lines. Our “One EnerMech” approach to clients means we have incorporated a number of additional services from complete mechanical, electrical and instrumentation services, valve supply, maintenance, repair and overhaul, and more recently specialist maintenance, inspection and integrity capabilities, to our extensive and established offering.
“We are challenging the traditional contracting models, specifically around reducing the contractors footprint, and this approach has increased our market share with a number of major operators and we expect this to increase further as existing maintenance contracts are renewed.”
Australia’s current onshore LNG construction activities are transitioning into the operations and maintenance phase, however, there are a number of waves of investment required over the next 30 to 40 years to continue to feed these initial investments.
Michael added: “Over the next 10 years there is expected be in excess of $70 billion AUD invested in upstream greenfield developments, brownfield modifications and additional LNG trains in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
“EnerMech is already engaging with the full life cycle chain on all major projects, and we are well positioned to increase our market share in these new LNG projects due to our reputation in the industry, established track record, multiple services, geographical location and long term agreements in place with the operators.”
EnerMech will develop an onshore capability in to the South West of England which will create up to 100 jobs in the Bristol area over the next three years.
The Aberdeen-based mechanical and electrical services specialist will target the nuclear, industrial processing, refining, petrochemical, aviation, defence, transport and infrastructure sectors as it diversifies outwith its energy industry roots.
The company believes its track record in the highly regulated offshore industry and experience of working on global infrastructure projects will enable it to successfully introduce existing service lines in to new onshore sectors.
EnerMech has appointed Duncan Frame, who spent 20 years with GE in senior commercial and operational roles in a number of different sectors, as General Manager South West, and he will spearhead expansion of the EnerMech brand.
Duncan Frame said: “EnerMech has years of experience of working in the highly regulated offshore sector and there exists a number of logical entry points to many of the onshore high tech and broader industrial sectors which populate the Midlands and south of the UK.
“The disciplines and methodologies which have been fine tuned in the North Sea and global oil and gas hubs are transferrable to an onshore environment and I see this as a terrific opportunity to build on the EnerMech success story which is strongly founded on evolution and diversification.”
EnerMech business lines including hydraulics, cranes and lifting, integrity and inspection and process and pipelines will appeal to a large number of businesses located in the southern half of the UK. There is also potential to provide integrated services, including electrical and instrumentation and testing and certification, to a number of nuclear, naval and marine projects.
“We envisage building a significant team of competent, multi-skilled individuals with experience across multiple sectors in the next three to five years and will establish the necessary workshop, storage and testing infrastructure to be on the doorstep of and accessible to potential new clients,“ added Mr Frame.
Established ten years ago, EnerMech employs 3,500 staff across 40 locations in the UK, Norway, the Middle East, Caspian, Asia, Africa, Australia and Americas. The company works on large scale projects across the oil and gas, LNG, renewables, defence, power, infrastructure and petrochemicals sectors and expects to grow revenues in 2018 to £430 million, up from £361 million in 2017.
EnerMech chief executive officer, Doug Duguid, said: “We have always been an outward looking business and this extension in to new markets is a natural step and part of a global strategy which will see EnerMech double in size over the next five years.
“We have successfully diversified from our traditional oil and gas base in to major infrastructure projects and this is another good example of introducing our skills and industry expertise in to new sectors which demand similar levels of regulation and duty of care.”
EnerMech has confirmed the conclusion of its sale to The Carlyle Group and announced the formation of the group’s Board of Directors.
John Kennedy has been appointed as the group’s chairman, with Joost Dröge and Bob Maguire, both managing directors and partners at Carlyle International Energy Partners (CIEP), and Philippe Boisseau joining the Board as non-executive directors.
The appointments signal EnerMech’s strong intent to substantially expand the business across global energy, engineering and infrastructure markets.
Spanning a 40-year career in oilfield services, John Kennedy has held senior executive positions with Brown & Root, Halliburton and rig manufacturer Lamprell. In 2006 he led the buy-out of Vetco International from ABB and he was chairman of Wellstream Holdings when it successfully completed an IPO in 2007 and three years later when the business was acquired by GE in a £800 million deal.
Doug Duguid, chief executive officer of the Aberdeen-headquartered mechanical and electrical services specialist, said: “I am delighted we are able to mark the official completion of The Carlyle Group’s acquisition of EnerMech with important non executive appointments of the highest calibre.
“John Kennedy’s experience in the upstream sector and successful corporate track record will add a breadth of expertise and knowledge which will shape the next chapter of EnerMech’s growth strategy.
“With the operating experience, financial resources and international support network of The Carlyle Group and CIEP, EnerMech is in an excellent position to consolidate our presence in our existing markets whilst pushing forward in exploiting new geographic and sector opportunities.
“There is a renewed confidence in our core energy sector client base and we are committed to working collaboratively with clients to identify and provide the best solutions possible. In tandem, our success in establishing a footprint and strong reputation in allied or new international markets, has given us a solid foundation for significant growth over the next decade.”
EnerMech announced in October that it had signed definitive agreements to be acquired by NASDAQ listed alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group for an undisclosed sum. Customary anti-trust and regulatory approvals have now been received and the transaction formally concluded.
Equity for this investment will come from CIEP, a $2.5 billion fund that invests in the global oil and gas sector outside North America. The Fund’s mandate includes exploration & production, mid-stream, downstream and oil field services. Credit Suisse, Lloyds and DNB have underwritten the all-senior rated loan financing the acquisition.
EnerMech Group Ltd has been acquired from Lime Rock Partners by global alternative asset manager and NASDAQ listed The Carlyle Group for an undisclosed sum.
The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2018, subject to customary anti-trust and regulatory approvals. Capital for the investment will come from Carlyle International Energy Partners (CIEP), a $2.5 billion fund that invests in the global oil and gas sector outside North America. The Fund’s mandate includes exploration and production, mid- and downstream and oilfield services.
EnerMech, the Aberdeen-headquartered mechanical and electrical services specialist, employs 3,500 staff across 40 locations in the UK, Norway, the Middle East, Caspian, Asia, Africa, Australia and Americas. The company works on large scale projects across the oil and gas, LNG, renewables, defence, power, infrastructure and petrochemicals sectors.
Last month (September) EnerMech revealed annual accounts [for the full year] to December 2017 with revenues of £361 million and profits (EBITDA) of £43.6 million, and forecast that 2018 revenues are expected to reach £430 million with profits in the region of £59 million.
The company was formed 10 years ago by Chief Executive Officer Doug Duguid and Chief Financial Officer Michael Buchan, both of whom will remain with the company in their current positions.
Doug Duguid said the deal was positive news for staff and clients and said newly available capital would lead to further acquisitions which will strengthen EnerMech’s services portfolio and geographic presence.
He said: “This transaction marks the beginning of a new chapter for EnerMech as we continue to develop our business, grow our global footprint and enter new markets. We are excited to be partnering with CIEP, whose expertise and track record in the energy space will provide valuable support for our strategy and next phase of growth.
“We are very pleased with the strong support we have enjoyed from Lime Rock over the last decade in building a thriving and sustainable business. This transaction is a natural progression in the life of any ambitious company and with the backing of Carlyle Group, which enjoys extensive relationships in the upstream and downstream sectors, we will be focussed on doubling the size of the business in the next five years.
“Our strategic diversification in to large scale infrastructure projects and new geographic markets, allied to our lengthy track record in energy and the renewed confidence in that sector, were significant drivers in attracting a heavyweight investor such as Carlyle Group.
“For our staff and clients, it is very much business as usual, with the caveat that we will be identifying target businesses which will strengthen our integrated offering and introduce increased efficiencies for our end-users.”
This acquisition is CIEP’s first investment in an energy services business, complementing its current portfolio of investments in exploration, midstream and downstream and storage sector companies.
Marcel van Poecke, Head of Carlyle International Energy Partners, said: ““EnerMech is an attractive, well-positioned international integrated energy, infrastructure and industrial services company, led by a strong team.
“The company has multiple avenues for growth. We believe potential synergies across CIEP’s portfolio companies as well as the broader Carlyle family are attractive. We look forward to working with the team and supporting EnerMech’s continued growth.”
John Reynolds, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Lime Rock Partners, said: “We have greatly valued our partnership with Doug Duguid, Michael Buchan, and the entire EnerMech team as we supported the business’s growth and transformation since inception. We are confident that the company will continue to thrive under Carlyle’s ownership.”
EnerMech has been ranked in the top 60 of British private mid-market growth companies, according to the Sunday Times Grant Thornton Top Track 250 league table.
The Aberdeen-headquartered integrated mechanical and electrical services specialist was one of 11 new Scottish entrants to the rankings, which measures companies growth by sales and growth and profitability criteria.
The twenty Scottish companies featured in the list showed combined sales of £4.48 billion, with EnerMech the second highest ranked Scottish firm (£361 million revenue to December 2017) after Edinburgh-based house builder Miller Homes (£675 million).
EnerMech’s ranking in 52nd place in the British table comes after the company last week posted global profits of £43.6 million, up by £19.3 million on 2016, and increased revenue of almost £100 million in the same period.
EnerMech chief executive officer, Doug Duguid, predicted that 2018 revenues would continue to grow to around £430 million with EBITDA in the region of £59 million, from a combination of the continued revival in the company’s traditional oil and gas markets and diversification in to new sectors.
He said: “We are delighted to be in the mix with Britain’s top performing growth companies and the Top Track 250 ranking echoes our strong financial performance in 2017 which we expect to continue in succeeding years.
“Our home North Sea market is on a sounder footing and we are witnessing increased activity and demand for our services. We envisage building on our successes in Australia and the US, not just in the energy sector but over a range of large-scale infrastructure projects which are in the pipeline and where we can offer our suite of integrated services.”
EnerMech employs 3500 staff across 40 locations in the UK, Norway, the Middle East, Caspian, Asia, Africa, Australia and Americas, and has evolved in to one of the world’s leading integrated mechanical and electrical contractors serving the oil and gas, LNG, renewables, defence, power, infrastructure and petrochemicals sectors.
The Top Track 250 is sponsored by Grant Thornton and Lloyds Banking Group and compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford-based research and networking events firm.
Andrew Howie, Partner at Grant Thornton UK LLP, praised the companies
for their performance: He said: “Advances in robotics and artificial intelligence, the pervasive challenge of cybercrime, and the uncertain impacts of Brexit are among the significant issues facing Britain today.
“If we are to continue turning innovative ideas into businesses with international scale, we all need to play our part in shaping a vibrant economy that thrives. In this, the role of the mid-market is crucial. Resilient despite the headwinds, the Top Track 250 are innovating, winning business and adapting to generate value. There is much to learn from them.”
The Sunday Times Grant Thornton Top Track 250 complements the Top Track 100, published in July, which features Britain’s private companies with the biggest sales. It ranks the next 250-biggest companies by sales, provided they meet certain growth and profitability criteria. The 250 companies grew combined sales by 18% to £66.7bn, operating profits by 27% to a record £6.4bn and employees by 10% to 435,000.
Continued success in international markets has increased global revenues by nearly £100 million for integrated mechanical and electrical services specialist EnerMech.
The Aberdeen-headquartered firm has posted 2017 group turnover of £361.4 million, up from £263.9 million the previous year, while profits (EBITDA) increased by £19.3 million to £43.6 million.
EnerMech employs 3500 staff across 40 locations in the UK, Norway, the Middle East, Caspian, Asia, Africa, Australia and Americas, and has evolved in to one of the world’s leading integrated mechanical and electrical contractors serving the oil and gas, LNG, renewables, defence, power, infrastructure and petrochemicals sectors. The company stated that around £45 million of its revenue growth had come from the acquisition of electrical & instrumentation (E&I) specialist EPS Group Australia in early 2017.
Annual accounts lodged this week at Companies House for the year to December 2017 show EnerMech’s UK business continued to weather the oil and gas downturn, despite a drop in turnover to £116 million from £128 million in 2016. In the UK, where the company employs 1000 staff, EnerMech posted EBITDA of £9.9 million compared to £15 million the previous year.
EnerMech chief executive officer, Doug Duguid, forecast that global revenues in 2018 would increase to £430 million with EBITDA in the region of £59 million, and said the UK business would also experience growth on the back of increased investment in the region.
Mr Duguid said: “Our global strategy of diversification, both in terms of the services we provide and the markets we are competing in, is proving successful and this is strongly demonstrated by our financial results, however, we are also starting to see a return to growth in our traditional oil and gas market.
“In five of our seven operating regions, we experienced significant growth, particularly in Australia where revenue almost doubled, and in the US where the growth of our industrial services and E&I offerings plus exposure to large LNG projects more than doubled turnover. In Africa too, strategic contract wins in Angola, Nigeria and Ghana saw activity levels increase by 50% in 2017, while in Asia we improved on our 2016 performance by securing important contracts in Korea and Malaysia.
“The Middle East and Caspian region remained steady in 2017, while Europe was the only region in which revenues declined, due to the well-documented drop off in new oil and gas projects and the deferral of non-essential maintenance activities.
Mr Duguid was upbeat on 2018 prospects, pointing to EnerMech’s ability to deliver integrated services which clients are increasingly demanding and the company’s focus on greater collaboration with customers.
He said: “The prospects for our 2018 financial results are very positive and we expect further growth in the Americas and Australia in particular. Our commitment to developing innovative operational and commercial ways of working is gaining traction and is particularly relevant to mature oil and gas markets, where extending field life is a key customer objective.
“Over the last 10 years we have built a robust business which operates across diverse international markets and this has allowed us to grow, despite the numerous challenges we faced in the oil and gas downturn. We are in a strong position to achieve our long-term objective of becoming the global contractor of choice for pre-commissioning, commissioning, operations and maintenance, and late-life services across a wide range of sectors.”
An oil and gas asset specialist with more than 20 years’ experience working for major operating companies has been appointed as EnerMech’s European regional director.
Ross McHardy will be responsible for all UK and Norwegian activities at the Aberdeen-headquartered integrated engineering services firm, which expects to double European turnover from £84m to more than £170m over the next four years.
Mr McHardy was previously responsible for safety performance and production delivery on TAQA Bratani’s Harding assets and held a wider strategic role which oversaw engineering and project delivery across Central North Sea assets. Prior to this he was part of EnQuest’s Aberdeen leadership team where he was actively involved in shaping the company’s strategic development and core values.
EnerMech chief executive officer, Doug Duguid, said: “Our strategy is to extend our offshore oil and gas offering to cover the full life-of-field of assets, to strengthen our integrated maintenance and inspection services, and further expand our mechanical and electrical provision to offshore sectors, such as downstream, power, utilities and defence.
“Ross’s experience in senior executive roles with major operators will be an important asset in helping us to better understand the problems faced by our clients and will be key to defining how we enhance service deliver and make a genuine difference to clients’ operations.
“His collaborative leadership style will bring a fresh insight and enthusiasm, as we expand our business by supporting the industry’s stated objective of maximising economic recovery.”
EnerMech’s European division employ 1000 staff in Aberdeen, Great Yarmouth, Bristol and in Norway and current annual turnover is expected to double to an estimated £170 million by 2022.
Ross McHardy said: “After spending more than 20 years on the operator side managing assets and delivering engineering projects, I hope I can transfer that knowledge to assist EnerMech as it continues to disrupt the traditional ways of executing turnkey projects.
“There are signs of recovery in the oil and gas sector but we need to emerge from the downturn with a fresh perspective and to do things differently. We also see exciting opportunities in the UK onshore market, drawing on the experience we have gained in international markets. EnerMech is a solid well-managed but nimble business, and I believe it is in an excellent position to build on its reputation for delivering high quality services, but with a dynamic and challenging approach to what has been the accepted norm.
“Greater collaboration across the supply chain is widely recognised as a necessity and I know from some of the initiatives that are being pioneered by EnerMech that they treat this seriously and are willing to invest in people and resources to make the most of the new opportunities on the horizon.”
