A company that provides a package of offshore services to a growing portfolio of clients in the wind, oil and gas sectors has moved into the southern North Sea’s offshore renewables energy hub.
Minerva Technical Solutions Ltd (MTSL) has joined nearly 30 tenants and more than 40 virtual tenants growing their businesses at the Orbis Energy innovation and incubation centre in Suffolk.
It provides asset surveying, project delivery, operational support, asset life extensions and decommissioning, resource supply and rope access as well as project support vessels. The mix of businesses working in the same industry in one building was a major draw for the company that provides asset and operational support.
“The Orbis Energy hub is already providing fertile ground for new ideas, collaboration and discussion”, said Scott McMillan, managing director of the Gardline Group company.
“One of the major benefits of this location is that it is recognised in the industry as being the hub of business activity. We are among clients, developers, operators and sub-contractors, all under the same roof, building businesses and delivering services to similar markets.
“From general discussions at the coffee machine, ideas quickly develop into solutions due to the informal nature of the facility. It is like being at one big networking event”.
Johnathan Reynolds, business development lead at Orbis Energy, said: “Orbis Energy is the exactly the right environment for a business like Minerva as it establishes itself. Although it brings together so many years of experience and contacts, at Orbis, they have day to day contact with a whole range of different levels of companies as well as being on the spot for events, networking sessions and access to grants, specialist support and more.
“Opportunities for tenant companies are expanding and developing all the time. We have just launched the £6 million SCORE grant fund to support companies developing innovations for offshore renewables.
“We’re also busy putting together our new International Insight series helping businesses understand the global growth markets for offshore renewables and what they need to do to win new business. That’s just a couple of examples of how Orbis Energy is helping tenants and the wider business community”.
This inclusive and ‘collaborative’ approach stands in marked contrast to the ‘silo-management’ policy taken by some energy industry trade associations in Scotland.
Meanwhile, Devon-based specialist decommissioning and demolition consultants D3 Consulting has been awarded a six figure contract with a major operator following the successful completion of a decommissioning project with another operator.
The eight-month contract started in April 2016 and involves the preparation of materials inventories for 21 platforms in the southern North Sea, with eight associated subsea installations and pipelines.
Martin Bjerregaard, Director, said: “The team at D3 Consulting has more than 20 years of decommissioning experience, and I’m delighted that our expertise has been recognised by two major operators in the industry.”
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