Entrepreneur to unveil series of massive deals
Jan 4 2011 by John Hill, The Journal
NORTHUMBERLAND offshore engineering firm IHC Engineering Business is poised to expand its workforce as it completes the latest in a series of massive contracts.
The business, which has just completed one of its biggest projects – installing a 65m pipelay tower in a South Korean shipyard for Saipem – is currently working on another project that could possibly see equipment fitted on a pipelay vessel in the North East next year.
It has also secured a contract with engineering giant McDermott International as part of a joint partnership with oil sector equipment maker SAS Gouda.
Chairman Dr Tony Trapp is confident of winning at least one more large contract shortly which will not only boost the firm’s revenues but push it to grow its workforce.
He said: “Everyone’s definitely busy and we need a lot more good engineers to take on some great projects. There are some really good openings for skilled engineers who want to make a difference in the world. I’m sure we could take on another 20.”
The company was founded in 1997 by Trapp, who sold it two years ago to Dutch firm IHC Merwede for £30m. The company currently employs about 180 staff in Northumberland, Tyneside and Teesside.
IHC EB, which is based in Riding Mill near Hexham, recently saw the pipelay tower it designed and built in the North East rise to a vertical position on the deck of the Saipem FDS2 in the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea.
It worked with Italy-based oil industry equipment giant Saipem and Samsung to prepare and install the tower, which is 10 times the weight of the Angel of the North and stands 65m above the deck of the new-build ship.
It is also building a 450ft tower for engineering firm Technip’s new Deep Energy ship, which will be fitted out with equipment in the autumn next year to allow it to install offshore pipelines.
The tower is being built on Teesside and will be shipped to Holland to be fitted, but the ship may then move to Tyneside to be equipped with other important kit.
Trapp said: “It’s still slightly in doubt as to where it end up. There’s 2,000 tonnes of kit to be fitted, and it could remain in Holland for that stage, but we hope it will come to our Port of Tyne base.”
It has also been tasked to deliver a 300-tonne flexible product-laying system to US company McDermott International as part of its joint agreement with SAS Gouda, which was arranged at the start of the year to allow the companies to jointly pursue such projects. The new system will upgrade the horizontal lay system on board the new North Ocean 102 vessel.
Figures released by the Northumberland- based business in August reported it had made a pre-tax loss of £2.8m in the 12 months to September 30 last year, compared to a £2m profit in 2008.
However, turnover was up from £22.3m to £24.2m and Trapp put the loss down to the investment it had made in new technology, as well as transferring its workshop from Wallsend’s Hadrian Yard to a 7,500sq m warehouse at the Port of Tyne. It also opened a second unit at Stocksfield Hall, and Trapp predicts the company will return to profit this year.
He said: “We’re in a strong position for another system, and the general view is there’s a growing amount of work out there.
“We’ve got the facilities here and we’ve got a skilled workforce. It’s always difficult to compete on price with eastern competitors, but when it comes to building complex equipment that needs to be right first time, we’re unparalleled.”
