Energy firm is powering ahead in business boom

Oct 28 2009 by Karen Dent, The Journal

AN oil and gas inspection firm is planning to create a new division after beating its own five-year growth targets in just 18 months.

R&A Kay Inspection Services has also employed 15 extra inspection engineers to work with clients including BP, Esso and Shell since the £500,000 takeover deal by former Enron managers Duncan Jarrett and Ian Johnston in 2007. It now employs 65 inspectors.

The business, originally set up in Doncaster 25 years ago, moved to Stockton as part of the deal and has now beaten its original 10-15% annual growth business plans.

Managing director Duncan Jarrett said: “When we took over the company, we knew that making a few refinements to the business model and service provision could have a big impact on the company’s turnover and profitability, and the enhancements we made have helped us hit our original targets well ahead of schedule.

“It was especially pleasing that many of the customers with whom we’d previously worked chose to follow us and give their business to the new company, and we even managed to win a competitive tender from our old employers who recognised the expertise and market value that we offered.”

R&A Kay, which shifted to Teesside to be near a number of its key customers, is now planning to expand by opening a specialist civil and structural engineering inspection unit division to add to work in the oil and gas, industrial gases and utilities sectors.

“Many of our clients use us as an extension of their own operations, utilising our services to meet the extremely stringent regulatory requirements under which they operate and basing much of their operational capabilities on our inspectors’ expertise,” said Mr Jarrett.

“Alongside continued growth in our primary markets, especially as the economic recovery kicks in, we can see significant commercial opportunities in the civil and structural engineering sectors.”

Mr Jarrett and Mr Johnston bought the business with the support of a £250,000 investment from Evolve Finance, part of regional fund management firm NEL Fund Managers.

Joanne Pratt, investment executive at Evolve Finance, said: “The company’s new management team has made the best possible use of opportunities in a lucrative niche market.

“To have achieved its long-term targets in such a short period, especially when the wider economy has been experiencing such difficulties, is a real testament to their commercial expertise and fully backs up the investment decision we made.”