Rig design company to create up to 200 oil jobs

May 28 2008 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

UP to 200 skilled jobs are to be created in the region’s booming oil sector with the arrival of a rig design company.

US firm RDS is opening an office at Wynyard Business Park, Stockton, which will create 50 new jobs by the end of the year and more than 130 jobs in the longer term.

This is RDS’s third office in the UK – it also has offices in Aberdeen and London – and follows a rapid increase in offshore engineering project work won by the company over the last 12 months.

Peter Brackenborough, RDS’s head of engineering, said: “RDS has experienced an unprecedented growth in demand for its services in recent months, to the extent that we now employ about 700 people in our offices in London, Aberdeen, Stavanger, Bergen (Norway) and Baku (Azerbaijan), which represents an 83% increase in our total workforce since 2005. Our forward order book is extremely healthy, to the extent that we anticipate the need for another 200 people by 2009/2010, which we are looking to fulfil with this new office in Stockton.

“This region is renowned for its engineering skills base, which we hope to tap into, attracting people who live in the locality or who have perhaps moved away for work reasons and would like to return.”

Ian Williams, director of business and industry for One NorthEast, which has provided the company with a £1.3m grant to come to the region, said: “The North East is fast developing a reputation as a UK hub for offshore oil and gas engineering and I am delighted that we have been able to attract a company of RDS’s calibre to Wynyard Business Park.”

RDS, a subsidiary of KCA DEUTAG, has signed a 10-year lease on the new 13,000 sq ft office in the Lion Court building at Wynyard.

Yesterday we reported there are 1,730 current job vacancies in the North East’s booming oil and gas sector and the region’s firms say a shortage of skilled staff may soon hinder their growth.

RDS is initially looking for NVQ or degree qualified engineers and designers in the disciplines of structural, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, piping, and HVAC, as well as cost, planning, safety and drilling operations engineers. There will also be a number of managerial and administrative positions to be filled.

Matt Johnson, development manager of Wynyard Park Ltd, the company that owns the 700-acre business park said: “ The creation of new skilled jobs is a welcome boost and is a reflection of the quality of workforce that is on offer in this area.”