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Offshore oil specialists predict 25% rise in turnover

A Hartlepool firm that supplies specialised staff to the offshore oil industry expects to increase turnover to £10m after winning a major contract.

Seatechs has won a nine-month deal from Wellstream, worth just under £3m, to send around 30 workers to Campus Basin in Brazil.

They will install the pipeline that runs from the FPSO – a floating rig used to extract crude oil – to the sea.

And Seatechs managing director Paul Cave says he expects the company’s turnover to increase by around 25 per cent, up to £10m, after winning the project.

Mr Cave told Bdaily: “It’s a major project for us, and if things keep going the way they are, which I’m expecting it to, we’ll be looking to take on more office staff later this year.”

Seatechs was handed the contract by Wellstream, a company that manufactures pipes for large-scale offshore oil and gas work, after doing similar work for them in Australia and Dubai.

Mr Cave added: “Brazil has been regarded for a long time as an emerging market, but it’s no one of the world’s leading players in the offshore and oil and gas industries.

“We’re seeing more and more demand for workers to be supplied to projects out there.”

Seatechs, which also has an office in Guernsey, has seen its turnover rise progressively since it was launched with six employees six years ago.

Mr Cave said: “The company’s growth has exceeded my expectations massively.

“My prediction for the company was that in year one, we’d get turnover of £200,000 to £250,000.

“In year two, I’d thought we’d get to about £500,000 and to £750,000 in year three.

“We ended up getting to £1.5m, then £5.3m, then £3.6m as the recession hit.

“Last year we hit £8.2m, our best year yet, but it looks like we’re going to be in the region of £10m this year, maybe even a bit higher, so that’s fantastic news.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Walker .