EnerMech was launched in April and in just six months has established a strong position in the mechanical services sector of the North Sea oil and gas sector.

While the company’s initial focus was on the rental of small zoned equipment, hand tools and welding equipment for offshore use, the business strategy was always to quickly expand in to the wider mechanical services market.

The Aberdeen company may be the new kids on the block but the industry will be aware of the proven track record of EnerMech’s owners in delivering competitively priced, integrated and safety focussed engineering services.

Managing director Doug Duguid and fellow investors/directors Michael Buchan, Derek Grant and Phil Bentley is the same management team which successfully transformed PSL Energy Services in to a £100 million plus concern, employing 1100 staff in 15 eastern hemisphere countries.

And backed by private equity firm Lime Rock Partners, the EnerMech board have resources in excess of £30 million to grow the company through a combination of capital investment, adding new service lines and strategic acquisitions.

Indeed, EnerMech have wasted no time in channelling those resources to extend their offering. In September the double acquisition of Specialist Maintenance Services (SMS) added over 20 years cranes and heavy lifting experience to the portfolio while A1 Training Consultants (A1) brought a highly respected safety training provider in to the fold.

This was followed by the purchase of Bjørge ASA’s crane division which provides a well establish foundation for work in the strategically key Norwegian crane and heavy lifting sector. The deal saw EnerMech take over all contracts, equipment and personnel connected to Bjørge’s crane activities at Stavanger and Haugesund and Bjørge’s crane division head, Trond Møller, was appointed general manager of the new company, EnerMech A/S.

Currently EnerMech provides a variety of crane personnel – from crane operators, mechanics and technicians to crane engineers and inspectors. Other specialist areas covered include crane installation, removal, modifications, inspection and upgrades, crane maintenance strategy and maintenance delivery, as well as spares and wire rope supply and management.

Plans are underway to expand the range of cranes and lifting services currently provided to include mechanical handling, winches, lifting equipment rental, subsea installation equipment and decommissioning and there will be further international expansion, initially in to the Middle East and Far East, which will complement the existing facilities in Aberdeen, Great Yarmouth, Stavanger, Singapore and Dubai.

EnerMech’s training division will play an important role in the overall growth of the company. With the oil and gas training market largely focussed on the provision of safety training, there are opportunities to provide a more comprehensive training service, starting from a Lifting and Rigging core, and extending in to mechanical competence in areas such as pressure containment, pump operations, valve care, hydraulics and flexible hose assessment and management.

Our existing training facilities in Great Yarmouth and Aberdeen, where our state-of-the-art crane simulator is located, will be expanded and there will further investment in first class training facilities with classroom and hands-on training and additional simulators for other international locations.

Many oil field equipment rental companies have limited engineering and technical back up skills and we see an opportunity to create a hire company with excellent engineering and trouble-shooting capabilities while being able to build to suit customer-specific needs for the specialised end of the market.

A clear differentiator between our equipment rental business and others in the market is our more effective utilisation of resources because of the use of more sophisticated asset tracking software. This more cost effective approach will allow us to invest in the capability to deliver a greater depth of technical support for engineering analysis, diagnostics, maintenance performance improvement and providing new solutions.

An Integrated Management System is already in place and using our full Asset Management Software (Tekton Evision), clients will have online access to our equipment management system which allows the customer to check on the hire status, certification renewal and location of equipment and other critical information.

Typically our costs to equipment rental clients will be 15-18 per cent lower than competitors and all our equipment has the appropriate ATEX, PUWER, PAT and HAV certifications. EnerMech is FPAL registered and has obtained ISO 9001 certification from DNV and is working toward similar certification to 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards.

Our hydraulics division has benefited from investment in facilities for hose handling, swaging, and testing equipment and we have committed more than £500,000 on an initial inventory of a wide range of high pressure hoses and valves and fittings. Our experienced team of hose/hydraulic personnel will be doubled in the next year as we develop a team with a reputation for first class service and problem solving expertise. EnerMech has already built a comprehensive hose asset management system with bespoke software to support these activities. We have the capability to provide risk based assessments of all types of applications as well as small bore, thread and hose condition awareness training.

In Aberdeen, staff at our existing three facilities will move to a single location in January and with projected revenue in the next year estimated at £25 million, EnerMech expects our 250 strong workforce and international footprint to continue to grow over the coming years.

With an uncompromising focus on safety and engineering and service excellence, further investment in staff development and a strategically positioned infrastructure, EnerMech are positioned to build on the success enjoyed in the first six months since our launch.

Our management team have a proven track record of organic growth and overseas expansion, which allied to strong industry and customer relationships, will ensure EnerMech becomes a key provider of mechanical services throughout the Eastern Hemisphere in 2009 and beyond.