Aberdeen-based drilling fluid specialist FOCUS – which was formed in January following the merger of Performance Fluid Management (PFM) and QTEC Energy Services – has appointed regional managers to lead its three international business units.
The key aims of the firm’s services are to eliminate or reduce surface spills from drilling operations, optimise the performance of solids control equipment to reduce costs, and ensure environmental and governmental compliance.
Rick Smith has been appointed to lead the business’s growth in North and South America; Liam Manderson will oversee operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; while Tim Hopkins is charged with developing FOCUS’s activities in the Asia Pacific region.
Rick Smith was previously technical manager with PFM based in Houston, a role he held for eight years providing services on a global basis. In 1992, Rick founded ProActa Environmental Services to fulfil a growing need for environmental compliance in the drilling industry. He sold the business in 1998, and has since then held roles specialising in drilling fluid, solids control and environmental management.
A graduate of Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University, Liam Manderson held sales roles across several industries before joining energy services business Broad Cairn in 2012. The following year, he became commercial manager at QTEC where he helped to develop the business offering globally.
Tim Hopkins takes on the role of Asia Pacific regional manager with FOCUS having previously managed QTEC’s operations in Australia. A native of Perth, Tim graduated with a degree in Applied Chemistry from the city’s Curtin University and began his career as a corrosion chemist in the oil and gas industry.
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