Northumberland engineers create jobs after £10 million contract wins

Eight jobs have been created as North East engineering firm OSBIT Power has lined up more than £10 million of new projects in the last nine months.

OSBIT, established four years ago and based in Riding Mill in Northumberland, has secured 23 projects ranging in value from £5,000 to £3 million.

They are mainly for design and build of complex offshore systems and are for nine different customers including many of the largest offshore contractors in the world.

On top of a workforce of 35, the company is hoping to recruit another eight in the coming months. The company aims to attract outstanding engineers to the region and help to retain capable students and encourage them to work locally and keep supporting the North East economy.

Last year turnover was £1.4 million but this company year they are on target to dramatically increase that as the company carries out more work in the oil & gas, offshore wind, wave and tidal stream, submarine telecom and defence sectors.

The company initially targeted the offshore wind market and developed the MaXccess system to provide safe transfer system to enable people on small boats to safely transfer on and off offshore turbines. This is still the only system to be successfully deployed commercially and customers include Siemens, Statoil, Dong and now Marubeni. More recently OP has expanded into the wider offshore oil and gas market.

Tony Trapp, managing director of OSBIT Power, said: “These are all large scale and high-profile projects right across the world.

“Our name stands for On Specification, Budget and In Time, and our success hitting those targets will help turn the spotlight on the North East as a centre of excellence for cutting-edge offshore engineering and confirm OSBIT Power as a market leader.

“After only four years, we have already gained a solid reputation for tech-driven solutions. It helps that we are a small and agile firm that can respond quickly to clients’ demands.

“The order book we have runs well into next year has been made possible by the skills and experience of our 35-strong team here at OP. There are also six university placement students working here now, and they are taking significant responsibility on some major projects. And four Newcastle University engineering graduates will join this summer.”

OP particularly aims to create wealth for all who work in the business and ensure that any benefits created are spread throughout the workforce via a company share option scheme.