Hertel’s on a real high
MIDDLESBROUGH-based industrial services company Hertel (UK) has secured 150 local jobs for up to seven years after renewing a key contract at the ConocoPhilips petroleum processing facility.
The initial three-year contract has two, two-year options that could extend it to seven years.
Hertel (UK) first started work at the refinery as an insulation contractor in the 1980s.
The latest contract, which will start on September 1, will see it continue as the site’s largest repairs and maintenance sub-contractor, providing scaffolding, insulation, painting, civil and mechanical work.
Ian Dalgarno, Hertel (UK)’s regional director for the North-east, said: “This is a very significant contract for Hertel (UK) not only because of the number of jobs involved and the sheer size of the job, but because it reinforces our belief that our business thrives on strong, ongoing relationships with our customers.
“When we first started at the site, Hertel was primarily an insulation contractor but that has grown alongside our work here.”
ConocoPhillips operates the Norsea Oil terminal at Seal Sands.
Last week it was given the green light by Stockton Council to build a combined heat and power plant at the terminal.
The generating plant will provide 800MW of electricity as well as steam for local industry.
Its expansion plans also include creating a liquefied natural gas re-gasification facility. Estimated investment in the project is £500m.
Dutch-owned Hertel, which employs 7,500 people worldwide, including 3,500 in the UK, specialises in engineering, construction, project and maintenance services, offering total service solutions for the oil and gas, process and power industry. It also designs, fabricates and installs architectural outfitting, accommodation modules and containerised solutions for the defence and offshore sectors.
In late 2006 it bought the then Aker Kvaerner’s engineering services workshop and maintenance business following it almost a year later with the purchase of the facilities from which the operations are run.
The original deal, for an undisclosed sum, involved about 120 jobs based at Wilton and 40 on Humberside. The deal signalled a decade of impressive growth for the group - from a £30m business to a £140m organisation. At the time, MD Steve Tonks said the company expected to achieve 10% organic growth year-on-year.
Hertel has had its UK head office in the same area of Middlesbrough as it did when it moved into the country in 1975.
