UK: ROVOP Announces GBP 7 Million Contract Wins and Senior Appointments

Award-winning energy services company ROVOP has secured a series of contracts worth a total of £7million for work on major offshore windfarms across Europe.

The increasing demand for the services of rapidly-evolving subsea business has also led the company to announce the strengthening of its management team with two senior appointments.

ROVOP, which supplies high-performance remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to the energy industry, is supplying its equipment and expertise to developments in the UK, Germany, Denmark and Belgium.

The unmanned submarines are used to support turbine tower installation and cable laying, providing powerful subsea tooling and sensors without risking divers. The work is at windfarms including Thornton Bank in Belgium, Anholt in Denmark and Global Tech 1 in Germany, as well as in the UK at London Array, the largest offshore windfarm in the world.

A total of 28 staff will be involved in the projects over an 18 month period. The company recently created 24 jobs in anticipation of the contract wins following the purchase of two extremely powerful SAAB Seaeye Panther XT Plus ROVs

As part of this growth, Barry Stewart has been appointed to the position of director and general manager and Doug Middleton to the position of international operations director.

Chairman Mark Vorenkamp said the appointments would help to further drive its growth and international expansion.

The company, based in Westhill, Aberdeenshire, began trading in 2011 and is entirely focussed on ROV services and provides genuine expert capability. ROVOP operates in a niche market and recently received £8million in funding for international growth.

 Mr Vorenkamp said: “Our recent contract wins highlight the strong and growing reputation of our team, who excel in the most challenging environments. ROVOP has the highest standard of equipment; our vehicles are capable of dealing with strong currents and are equipped with the latest technology to cope with extremely low visibility conditions.

 “The increase in the number of offshore windfarms throughout Europe has provided us with new markets for growth to supplement the strong pipeline of opportunities in oil & gas.”

He added: “The arrival of Barry and Doug is a great boost for ROVOP and will help us build on our achievements to date and make the most of future opportunities.

 “The business has experienced exceptional growth since being established just over a year ago. During this time we have received increasing interest and requests for our services overseas, and we expect this to continue. The addition of two experienced senior managers will support us as the business further evolves by providing the depth of knowledge and expertise that clients in the energy industry require.”

Mr Stewart, 49, has been involved in the subsea robotics industry since 1987 and joins ROVOP having previously worked as general manager since 2000 for Submersible Technology Surveys (STS), which became Neptune after its acquisition in 2009. In his time with STS, Mr Stewart was also employed in underwater services as a project technician, project coordinator and operations manager.

In 1998, Mr Middleton, 48, joined STS. During his time with the company, he graduated through the ranks to become an ROV supervisor. He left in 2005 for a spell with Technip, before rejoining STS, where he became operations manager in 2007.

 Mr Stewart said: “The existing business and growth plans at ROVOP are a good fit for me. I’m attracted to working with a specialist and focused ROV company. The market now needs a growing player like ROVOP, which can provide an expert, independent ROV service. The business has great momentum due to its growing track record of excellent delivery and it is an exciting time to be joining.”

In its first year of trading, ROVOP has grown to employ more than 30 staff and was named Promising New Business at the 2012 Grampian Awards for Business.

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Press release, October 11, 2012; Image: bigpartnership