Special Report - North East PIC (part two)

Dec 11 2006 By The Journal

A North-East-based engineering company is powering ahead with a string of successful contract wins. Fabricom Contracting provides multi-disciplined mechanical, electrical and instrumentation construction services to the oil, gas, chemical and power industries throughout the UK.

With bases in Teesside at Wilton, Humberside and the North-West, Fabricom is ideally located to play a major role in the many planned major projects for the North-East.

Fabricom Contracting is a key division of the Belgium-based Fabricom group which, in turn, is a part of the highly successful Suez Energy Services, a part of the European industrial giant Suez. Suez Energy Service has a turnover in excess of £6.8bn and employs over 66,000 people. Over 800 skilled trades' people and managers are employed in the UK by Fabricom, with a large number of these on Teesside.

Fabricom Contracting recognises that its employees are its most valuable resource. In a time where there is a skills shortage on the horizon, it is showing itself as a forward-thinking employer and is currently training 18 apprentices. Skills development is of the utmost importance to Fabricom as it recognises how vital it is to have the right people in the right place at the right time.

Fabricom's number-one priority is the health and safety of its employees and others that may be affected by its operations. It has well-developed and rigorously managed health and safety systems, and the company has set "best in class" objectives and targets. As a result of its outstanding safety performance, and in recognition of this, Fabricom has been awarded The RoSPA President's Award for 13 years in a row.

This year, the company has secured a string of new multi-million pound contracts. And success is breeding success, with one client extending its links with Fabricom and expanding a contract already secured by the team.

Fabricom is currently developing its expertise in the fast-growing domain of biofuels. It is working with both Royal Nedalco, a leading producer of ethanol, and British Sugar, which is building a bioethanol plant in Wissington in Sussex - the first of many planned for the UK.

It is at the forefront of the biofuels market and well-placed to be involved in the numerous intended plants in the North-East of England.

Nedalco is expanding its operations and is constructing an ethanol plant in Manchester. Originally winning the contract for mechanical construction works on this project, Fabricom has now gone on to extend its remit and also take on engineering and construction of all the remaining works together with material procurement. It has also secured multi-million pound contracts with CB&I John Brown for work on the Isle of Grain LNG Project.

Fabricom is currently working with most of the major chemical and oil and gas companies on Teesside, which includes a project with Costain Oil and Gas working on a major project for a leading oil company at Seal Sands.

In addition to this, it is working on a key project with Petroplus, due to be completed early 2007.

Colin McMillan, business development director, said: "This is an exciting and challenging time to be involved in the construction industry with the major planned developments around the UK in the oil gas and energy markets, particularly on Teesside, where much of this development will be centred."

• Contact Fabricom Contracting Limited, ET1 Road, Wilton International, Redcar, TS10 4RG. Tel (01642) 446400. Fax: (01642) 457994.

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Move to match skills demand

A new division and a new face are leading the expansion of recruitment expert Roevin. The company has opened a new trades personnel recruitment operation, headed by Geoff Bennett.

The new business will run alongside Roevin's already successful white-collar recruitment business in Teesside, headed by Debbie Lummas.

It has been developed to meet the growing demand for staff with skills in areas such as pipe fitting, welding, rigging and electrical installation in the chemical, process and nuclear industries.

Both recruitment divisions are based at the Wilton Centre at the Wilton International chemical complex.

Mr Bennett has joined Roevin from engineering giant Aker Kvaerner, where he was responsible for all UK blue-collar recruitment for more than a decade.

Phill Thomas, Roevin's operations manager, said: "Geoff brings with him a wealth of experience and the skills and contacts needed in this field.

"He will be responsible for all blue-collar recruitment by Roevin across the UK."

A growing number of new plants being constructed, plus a busy shutdown and overhaul programme, has prompted the development of the new division.

"Companies need to get hold of large numbers of skilled staff for projects," explained Mr Bennett.

"You might have a shutdown with a very tight schedule of just a few weeks that needs up to 1,000 staff to complete the job successfully.

"Other times, a company might require 50 staff for a project, but they need them within 24 hours.

"You have to be able to know where to find the right people, and quickly."

As well as his years with Aker Kvaerner, Mr Bennett has been involved in recruitment for more than 30 years.

"At the peak of work I was dealing with 3,500 blue-collar workers at Aker Kvaerner," said Geoff.

Mr Bennett also has experience in the field of industrial relations.

"That's an important skill to have when you're dealing with large numbers of people on different projects.

"You have to be able to work well with people. I believe in a hands-on, personal approach."

Mr Thomas added: "Geoff has all the right skills to lead this new business.

"During his time at Aker Kvaerner, Geoff was also a client of Roevin, so he's ideally placed to see the picture from both sides and know exactly what companies need."

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Push for process sector people

With major development and expansion in the process sector, recruiting the right people with the right skills is vital.

Hundreds of millions of pounds are being pumped into new projects, such as the £200m polyethylene plant being developed at Wilton, the £300m oil and gas contact set to be undertaken by the Tees Alliance Group at Haverton Hill, and the huge growth in the region's biofuels sector.

Roevin is already gearing up for the increased demand for staff.

Its technical division recently moved to bigger offices within the Wilton Centre and tripled its office space to allow for expansion. It has also invested in state-of-the-art IT and telecoms systems, and it has taken on additional staff - such as Geoff Bennett - to boost its operations.

"There is an unprecedented level of activity in the process industry at the moment," said Phill Thomas, Roevin's operations manager.

"The need for skilled personnel in many fields across the UK remains strong, and nowhere more so than in the North-East.

"We believe the massive potential for new construction in the chemical and process industries, as identified by the North East Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) , will result in the need for even more skilled and experienced personnel, both white-collar and trades."

NEPIC hopes to grow the North-East's chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors by £4.5bn in the next five to 10 years - a move which could create up to 3,000 new jobs.

"Just one example is how the North-East is becoming a cluster for the renewable energy market, with new plants being built or in the planning stage," added Mr Thomas.

"This means we are going to need increased numbers of staff to both build and develop these sites and manage and operate them. So we're gearing up for that right now."

Roevin is currently expanding its database of staff to offer even more skilled personnel to its clients.

But it is also looking to up-skill staff on its books to ensure that future developments have the staff they need.

"We're speaking with clients right now to see what their future requirements may be," said Mr Thomas. Semi-skilled staff have the potential to be developed through training to match the opportunities that are coming along in the industry.

"The average age of someone working in the process industry is currently early to mid-50s, so it's vital we develop new talent.

"We're already looking at the people on our books to see which could be in a position to step up into these new opportunities.

"By adding new skills it could create great new opportunities for people.."

Roevin is part of the Adecco group and is one of the leading and fastest-growing engineering and technical recruitment agencies in the UK, with 19 regional offices.

The office in Teesside has, in the last nine years, recruited many hundreds of engineers and technicians for a diverse range of clients - locally, nationally and internationally. It has an interactive internet database of more than 160,000 people.

"The process industry is really moving forward," added Mr Thomas. "We want to be a part of that."

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Are you getting credit for your R&D?

In the 19th Century, innovative pioneering process companies laid the foundations in the Tees Valley for one of the world's mightiest chemical engineering complexes. In recent weeks, a series of announcements of major investments in biofuel production and power generation has - together with existing projects - confirmed our position at the forefront of the 21st Century process industries that will help us avert the potential global disaster of climate change.

The rapid growth of these environmental industries is creating a range of supply chain opportunities for smaller companies. Those who invest in the research and development necessary to drive the new technologies forward will find that, for once, Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) may actually be on their side.

The Tax Credit Research & Development Scheme was introduced in 2000 to promote investment in innovation. While the scheme is particularly beneficial to SMEs, recent research showed that it is, paradoxically, companies (and the scheme is only open to companies) with fewer than 10 employees who are most likely to be missing out on it.

The scheme allows SMEs to deduct up to 150% of expenditure on qualifying R&D activities when they are calculating their profits for tax purposes. SMEs can, in certain circumstances, surrender this tax relief and claim payable tax credits in cash from HMRC.

Companies involved in R&D may also be able to claim R&D capital allowances.

R&D is defined for tax purposes in section 837A Income and Corporation Tax 1988, which says that R&D takes place when a project seeks to achieve an advance in science or technology. It is not quite so simple, however, to identify what activities actually qualify.

On November 1, HMRC opened seven R&D tax credit centres round the country to make it easier for SMEs to claim tax credits. Contact them or talk to your accountant if you think you may be missing out.

About Vantis plc

Vantis plc is the AIM listed UK top 13 accounting, business and tax advisory group that specialises in helping growing businesses. The Vantis group has over 1,000 staff operating from 19 locations - including Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Darlington - throughout England.

For more information about Vantis, visit: www.vantisplc.com

Page 2: Aesica gets the chemistry right