Recruitment company wins second royal award

A Washington recruitment agency has won its second royal accolade after being awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.

The specialist recruitment agency, Oil Consultants Ltd has received two awards in four years.

The firm provides individuals and teams of technical personnel to clients in over 75 countries and over the last two years its staff numbers and turnover has doubled.

Formed in 1999, Oil Consultants has implemented a growth plan that has established operations in Australia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Norway, Trinidad and the UAE.

And as well as expanding the current field based customer support team, Oil Consultants are also continuing to strengthen their roots in the North East by expanding their Washington base.

The £17m company was launched by oil industry workers who spotted an opportunity in the market.

The company also won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2010 and now has in excess of 16,000 consultants on its books servicing global companies including Halliburton, Schlumberger, Expro and Aker Solutions.

Helen Smith, Chief executive, said “We are absolutely thrilled to have been given this award for a second time in such a short period.

“The award for international trade is given to companies who have demonstrated substantial and sustained growth in international sales over the last three years.

“Our success is due largely to the levels of customer care we demonstrate along with the knowledge we have developed of the international oil and gas industry.

“This understanding of our client’s business has enabled to develop a rapid response service where we can place consultants globally at very short notice – our current record stands at less than four hours.”

“The loyalty and commitment shown by workers in the region has been a major factor in our success.

“We work in a global market and as we increase our international business we will be looking to recruit more people from the area to support this.”