Power ofScotland

Tuesday August 26 2014

Straight to The PointHow Dandara is shaping the future of Aberdeen

Skilling upSkilling upIntroducing fresh faces to

big industry opportunities

Tuesday August 26 2014 | the times

Power of Scotland2

Decision time is here but life goes on

Welcome

Global oil prices are under pressure. Brent crude for example has fallen from $115 per bar-rel in June to $103. This is despite the uncertainty around the three million barrels per

day that Iraq produces and the 10 million barrels per day of Russian oil production.

The key question is whether the cur-rent unwind in oil prices is structural or transient.

Picking through the underlying data it’s clear that the primary reason for the slump in prices was a big reduction in OECD demand in the second quarter of this year — the largest contraction in two years. German GDP went into reverse, France flat-lined and Italy remained in recession. Meanwhile Japan reported the worst economic contraction (6.8 per cent) since the earthquake and tsunami of 2011. At the same time crude stockpiles saw the largest quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2006. Clearly based on these numbers, the global economy has a long way to go before the recovery can be considered complete.

Clearly this performance is not sustain-able and presumably both eurozone and Japanese policy makers will be spurred into doing more to accelerate the eco-nomic recovery in these regions and this

slump in crude prices will prove to be a blip and not a trend. Time will tell if that comes to pass.

In the meantime those seeking reas-surance with respect to the robustness of the demand side of the oil equation can take solace from the historical data from the last ten years which shows that, on average, world oil demand grows by approximately 1.3 per cent every year.

Perhaps of more concern is the other side of the coin in that, in terms of future supply, current events in Iraq call into question not just the three million bar-rels per day of existing supply from that country, but the growth in supply that the IEA was forecasting would supply 45 per cent of future global production growth through to 2035.

There must also be concerns about the potential spread of the unrest into neighbouring countries. To compound the problem sanctions on Russia (another big contributor of future supply growth) will make it difficult to maintain, let alone grow, its existing production base.

All this at a time when the major independent oil companies and national oil companies are consumed with value over volume introspection, thus push-ing back potentially important new oil-

field developments of significance.What conclusions can we draw from

this remarkable sequence of events? First, a confluence of political events and unex-pected economic weakness is mainly responsible for the slump in crude prices. Next, predicting short term trends in oil prices is an exercise in futility. Finally making decisions on short term changes whether at a political, a corporate or an individual level is probably going to be a mistake. Better to focus on the long term trends and their underlying drivers.

History tells us that demand consist-ently rises each year by a million bar-rels a day or more and that the existing conventional production base declines every year by an average of about 6 per cent. It also tells us that replacing annual production declines is getting more dif-ficult and more expensive with every year that passes and that a high percent-age of world oil production comes from geographic regions that are inherently politically unstable.

In view of this, from a UK political per-spective it would be foolish not to place energy security at the top level of the political agenda, and irrespective of the outcome of the upcoming independence referendum and subsequent Westminster elections the recommendations of the Wood report must be acted upon with all speed.

From an investment perspective the long term prognosis for the oil service industry remains very positive because maintaining and growing production requires ever increasing levels of service intensity, particularly with respect to fracking and deepwater, where arguably there is the greatest production growth potential.Colin Welsh is chief executive of Simmons and Company International Limited

Inside ...Fresh faces of opportunityNational Oil & Gas Skills week will be a game changer Page 4

Aberdeen reinventedHow Dandara is building on Aberdeen’s success Page 8

Who shares winsThe information exchange that’s spreading its wings Page 14

Calm in the stormThe wellbeing of offshore staff is a vital commodity Page 12

Economic contraction in the eurozone – and beyond – is not a sound basis for making policy decisions based on current oil prices, argues Colin Welsh

Short term oil price slump blurs the longer term issues

September’s Scottish inde-penence referendum is too significant an event to ignore in this issue of Power of Scotland. By the time the next issue appears, we will know the result – if not, immedi-ately, all the consequences. On these pages Colin Welsh and Peter Jones look to the long-term effects of policy decisions based on both the price of oil and its taxation. But while the independ-ence debate continues to be pursued energetically elsewhere, we focus on some of the sector’s continuing success stories. These include the first ever National Oil & Gas Skills Week later this year, which will highlight the opportunities of the industry to a whole new constituency of skills and age groups. We look at how property developer Dandara is investing in the future of Aberdeen as a commercial and residential hub; why the Pilot Share Fair is spreading its wings; and we talk to some of the companies committed to the welfare of our offshore workforce. All in all, it’s a vote of confidence in the future.

German GDP went into reverse in the second quarter of this year and Italy remained in recession

From a UK political perspective it would be foolish not to place energy security at the top of the agenda

Power of Scotlandthe times | Tuesday August 26 2014 3

Oil company executives, I guess, must be fed up with talk about their industry in Scotland’s mainstream and social media right now.

Unlike any other business sector, the chatter is all about how much tax they might pay over the next few decades.

The debate they would prefer to see, I suspect, is whether the rates of tax levied on them is killing the black gold goose. Are politicians too focused on short-term gains to notice they may be strangling a long-term future?

The revenues debate has got seri-ously out of hand. Will they be as little as £44 billion between now and 2040, which is the low projection by the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR), the outfit which is charged with producing independent forecasts of UK govern-ment revenues and spending?

Or might they be as high as £365 billion over the same 25-year period, as was predicted by some economic consultants hired by a group of onshore businesspeople who call themselves N56 and have charged themselves with the job of working out a private sector plan to boost the Scottish economy?

Well, of course, this sort of debate is all because of the Scottish independ-ence referendum on September 18. The OBR figure wavers tend to be unionist “no” campaigners and the N56 number supporters to be nationalist “yes” sympathisers.

What they are both ignoring is the clear warning signals emerging from surveys of business confidence (used as clues to future growth by economic forecasters) that the offshore industry is facing the beginning of a crisis.

The data from Oil & Gas UK is positively alarming, showing confi-dence levels at their lowest level since the depths of recession in 2009 and only marginally in positive territory. Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce’s indicator is more positive, but that may be because it only surveys contractors based in their region, while Oil & Gas UK surveys firms in all of Britain.

It doesn’t take an expensive analyst to work out what the problem is. In the 2009 confidence slump, Brent crude was trading at around $62/barrel. Now it is holding steady at about $110/barrel, a 75 per cent improvement in real terms with

no real prospect, given the problems in Libya and Iraq, of tumbling any time soon.

Meantime labour costs have continued to climb, not just in fast-rising salaries, but in the growing number of people working offshore. And there was the infamous, out-of-the-blue tax increase in 2011, raising the tax rate on newer oilfields from 50 per cent to 62 per cent.

This doesn’t just hamper the upstream offshore industry, it also threatens the considerable onshore industry supplying equipment and services to the explorers and producers.

Peter JonesIgnore the warning signals and watch revenue streams dry up

There are reckoned to be about 200,000 jobs in the onshore supply chain, another 100,000 employed in exporting goods and services, and perhaps 110,000 indirect jobs created by the money that these workers and their firms earn. All these companies and workers pay taxes too, probably rather more than is extracted by the govern-ment from the oil producers.

This onshore part of the oil industry is highly successful because harsh condi-tions in the North Sea have demanded the development of cutting edge technologies, equipment, process and personnel management, logistics, etc., which has enabled a big export industry to grow up.

But if the short-term political focus on tax revenues this year and next persists, not only will longer-term oil produc-tion tax revenues dry up, but so will the income from the onshore industry because those companies depend on a busy North Sea to try out their latest thinking and to keep the world-leading edge they have acquired.

The Wood review and a Treasury consultation on taxation suggest that policy-makers have begun to grasp this. But will they seize the nettle that is becoming increasingly obvious — the need to start reducing the tax burden? Chancellor Osborne and finance secretary John Swinney both accept this is one way to stimulate onshore private sector activity. So why isn’t it the way to boost the offshore economy as well?

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Will policy makers seize the nettle and start to reduce the tax burden?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Confidence in year aheadConfidence compared to a year ago

Optimism level

2014 Q12013 Q32013 Q12012 Q32012 Q1Sources: Oil & Gas UK; Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce

Aberdeen & GrampianChamber of Commerce

UK Oil & Gas

Tuesday August 26 2014 | the times

Power of Scotland4

Recruitment

Despite the decline in UK oil production there are many openings for those starting in the industry

Many faces of opportunity in a dynamic energy sector

The oil and gas indus-try is throwing its weight behind the United Kingdom’s fi rst ever National Oil & Gas Skills Week, running from November 11 to 14.

Oil services giant Schlumberger UK is

a key sponsor of the event being run by international industry skills organisation OPITO, which hopes to make it a bien-nial happening. Others are confi rmed and are due to be announced shortly.

It is supporting what the organis-ers believe could be a game changer in explaining the industry and its employ-ment opportunities to a wider constitu-ency of skills and age groups.

“This is an exciting time in oil and gas: there are so many varied and rewarding careers possible for people of all ages and backgrounds,” said Gordon Ballard, chairman of Schlumberger UK. “I would encourage anybody interested in joining a fast-moving, high-tech, and challenging industry to get involved and participate in the National Oil & Gas Skills Week events.”

The organisers see a clear need for the week. “While companies do a good job of promoting and running their own recruitment programmes, this is a sig-nifi cant opportunity for the industry to do something different and meaningful to tackle the skills issue collaboratively in what is a huge event,” says Morven Spalding, skills development director at Aberdeen based OPITO.

The UK industry employs more than 440,000 people and contributes billions to the economy. Despite UK offshore oil production being in long-term decline, the employment future remains bright: anyone starting a skilled career in oil and gas now stands a good chance of being able to retire in oil and gas should they choose to.

One reason is that with the world becoming increasingly hungry for oil and gas, the industry is going global and into deeper and remoter environments to fi nd and exploit reserves.

In the UK itself, industry, government and other stakeholders are getting behind the Wood Commission’s agenda to max-imise economic benefi ts from what remains below the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), up to another 40 years of oil on some estimates.

Efforts will begin soon to see what additional reserves may lie west of Scot-land. Even without factoring that in, OPITO says thousands of new recruits

are needed in the UK sector over the next three years, and tens of thousands in the long term.

With demand for skills strong at home and globally, and a wave of retirements on the way among employees who have worked in the UKCS for more than 40 years in some cases, National Oil & Gas Skills Week is showcasing opportunities to all ages and from all walks of life.

Science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), specialist workshops and careers sessions are on the agenda along-side debates, interactive challenges and more.

Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Nor-wich, Newcastle and Great Yarmouth are confi rmed as locations and more are planned, including in London.

“Some of the elements are based on what we see as being hot topics in each area,” Spalding explains. Given Aber-deen’s status as Europe’s offshore oil capital, the focus is more on introduc-ing younger people to the industry and enthusing them.”

This includes a pupil-student-profes-sional speed networking event in Aber-deen to link young people with those studying for and working in their target careers.

“We were amazed at a recent work placement we did to see how young peo-

An important skills week aims to be a game changer for employment, says David McWilliams

ple living in the Aberdeen and (Aberdeen)Shire area, even in their senior school stages, have little or no idea of what the industry is all about in its entirety,” Spald-ing says.

“It involved 100 senior pupils and the feedback was that they were amazed how diverse and large the industry is. There is a perception that it is all hard hats and boiler suits and is very male orientated — but nothing could be fur-ther from the truth. We are very keen to attract more women both onshore and offshore. We have a huge education exercise ahead of us.”

For example, National Oil & Gas Skills Week events in Scotland include an Interconnect event at the University of Aberdeen for women studying STEM subjects and who are interested in pursu-ing a career in the sector. Interconnect is a network for women studying science, technology, engineering and maths sub-jects across Scotland.

A ‘Sticky Floors and/or Glass Ceiling’ workshop hosted by Edinburgh Napier University but held in Aberdeen will examine company and industry internal barriers that hold back women currently working in the industry.

Hands-on, teamwork sessions looking at various energy sources, their roles in meeting Scotland’s future needs, and

their sustainability, will be held for hun-dreds of secondary three and four level school pupils at Our Dynamic Earth, the Edinburgh exhibition and meetings space.

The Glasgow Science Centre will host ‘Who Needs Science?’ a live science show to inspire secondary one and two pupils as they discover the role of science in their everyday lives. It will be followed by an interactive, hands-on careers exhibi-tion with detailed information on excit-ing opportunities in oil and gas.

An emphasis on STEM skills is under-standable in a technology based industry, but other skills are in demand too, Spald-ing stresses.

“The industry needs its account-ants, lawyers, public relations, sales and other professionals too, and these do not necessarily need any kind of technical background. We need to recruit and nur-ture them from graduate level onwards. Again, these skills are needed onshore.”

Indeed, only 10 per cent of jobs in the oil and gas industry are based offshore.

National Oil & Gas Skills Week rec-ognises the diversity of needs by pitch-ing to all ages and backgrounds from schools, colleges and other careers and professions.

Subsea UK, the industry membership body, is to stage a ‘Mobilising the Military’

Power of Scotlandthe times | Tuesday August 26 2014 5

opito-skillsweek.comskillsweek@opito.com

@skillsweek /skillsweek/skillsweek

Get involved.National Oil & Gas Skills Week is set to explore the skills and career pathways within the oil & gas industry, across the UK. Targeting a variety of audiences, this event is dedicated to showcasing opportunities and highlighting all this innovative industry has to offer.

Get involved. Showcase your facilities on the industry’s first ever ‘Doors Open Day’, host an event for local schools, engage with the military, become a sponsor… the opportunities are endless.

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OPITO_NSW_ADVERT.indd 6 13/08/2014 09:18

(MTM) event at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on November 12, building on existing efforts to help former armed forces people make the transition to oil and gas.

The invitation-only workshop, which is not a recruitment event, allows company personnel and service leavers to review subsea roles offering opportunities that the latter do not readily recognise. The output from the workshop will allow the refi nement and development of future MTM activities to benefi t both service leavers and subsea companies.

“We’re putting on a number of events around the UK aimed at the military,” Spalding says. “OPITO has been doing a lot of work in this area. We have already communicated the oil and gas message to nearly 700 people around military bases and these awareness sessions have been extremely fruitful.”

OPITO is to launch a Skills Connect software tool at National Oil & Gas Skills Week to help employers and armed forces personnel better understand what skills are transferable. Skills Connect will allow both target audiences to see the types of roles suited to their current skill set and will identify the skills gaps and where additional training may be required.

The tool will sit within a new online information portal for the energy industry that will also be launched during National Oil & Gas Skills Week. The portal is being delivered by OPITO and energy-related industry associations at the behest of the UK government Oil and Gas Industry Leadership Group. An all-day Opportu-

nities in Oil & Gas recruitment event in Aberdeen on November 13 will see com-panies from the area seek to attract poten-tial candidates with transferable skills.

The week will also include a November 13 presentation ceremony in Aberdeen for industry awards as part of The Upstream Oil & Gas Technician Training Scheme 15th Anniversary Lunch, sponsored by IADC — International Association of Drilling Contractors. These include the Top Employer for Engagement in UK Education Award and the Top Military Career Transitioner Award.

Fergus Ewing, Scotland’s energy minis-ter, said: “The National Oil & Gas Skills Week will allow us all to understand cur-rent and future industry demands and we look forward to continue working with industry to develop the skilled workforce now and for the future.”

Ewing noted how the recently pub-lished report of the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce, chaired by retired oilman Sir Ian Wood, recognised the importance of voca-tional education to help young peoplebetter understand the world of work and to open up their future ambition and opportunities, especially in sectors such as energy.

Ewing added that the Scottish govern-ment had now provided £1 million to establish industry-led Invest in Young People groups to make “crucial” links between employers and education. “We are also committed to working with local authorities and other partners to develop these groups,” he said.

We have communicated the oil and gas message to nearly 700 people around military bases and this has been fruitful

Open your doors to new talentThe organisers of National Oil & Gas Skills Week are calling on the industry to get behind the UK-wide Doors Open Day scheduled into the programme for November 13 with support from industry association Oil & Gas UK.

Operators, drillers and companies throughout the Aberdeen supply chain are being asked to throw open their doors and let the public see the innovative jobs, techniques and technologies being used to push the boundaries of exploration and production. KCA Deutag recently announced it will be inviting the public into its Aberdeen base to discover what the company does, talk to staff about where they operate, as well as giving a tour of

the company’s simulator-based well control training facility for rig crews and operators.

“We want these to be truly representative of the UK oil and gas industry,” said OPITO’s Morven Spalding. “It’s a chance to highlight strengths, diversity, fantastic innova-tion and achievement. The biggest impact will be if the industry pitches in to make the week a success. Oil and gas can be very insular about promoting the opportunities to people outside the industry, so we hope companies will play ball with us for what is a truly major series of events.”

To the uninitiated, Christmas trees are tinselled conifers while the distinction between rigs and

platforms is more likely to evoke images of trucks and shoes. “The key part about getting involved in the Doors Open Day event is the industry needs to look beyond the perimeters of Aberdeen, or East of England,” Spalding says.

“By opening their doors to showcase their technology, talk about their graduate development programmes, or whatever is appro-priate for their company’s needs and aims, they can do just that. It’s a chance to meet and engage with the next generation.”

For more information, contact OPITO on 01224 787800 or visit the dedicated National Oil & Gas Skills Week website: www.nationaloiland-gasskillsweek.com

Morven Spalding points to a bright future in the industry

Tuesday August 26 2014 | the times

Power of Scotland6

As a businessman of some note himself, Donald Trump doubtless had more than golfing recrea-tion in his mind when he took his special brand

of entrepreneurialism into the north-east corner of Scotland.

There were two conspicuous plus-points about locating the Trump International Golf Links on the Menie estate just off the A90 ten miles north of Aberdeen.

One was its sheer beauty and sporting appeal, of course. As the New York-based tycoon himself put it: “When I saw this piece of land I was overwhelmed by the imposing dunes and rugged Aberdeenshire coastline. I knew that this was the site… I have never seen such an unspoiled and dramatic sea side landscape and the location makes it perfect for our develop-ment.”

The second pertains to that develop-

ment in a strictly business sense. The site is, after all, right next-door to Europe’s oil and gas capital and therefore an unmiss-able presence and magnet for visiting en-ergy executives – a global workforce that likes to work hard and play hard, often with a penchent for golfing pleasures and challenges.

The course is just 25 minutes by car from Aberdeen Airport and 15 minutes from the city centre; and a mere two years after it first got off the tee on a dead straight trajectory that defied the initial challenges, the golf course is emphati-cally proving its worth in both a sporting and business sense. In its first year it was ranked the Best Modern Course in Great Britain & Ireland and Best of The Best by the Robb Report.

Designed by renowned links golf architect, Dr Martin Hawtree, the Par 72, 18 hole championship course is a masterpiece stretching more than 7,400 yards along the North-east coast of Aber-deenshire. Set amid the Great Dunes of Scotland against the dramatic backdrop of the North Sea, the already-renowned links course offers breathtaking scenery and an unparalleled test of golf. Designed for players of all levels of ability, it prom-ises a unique golfing experience.

Colin Montgomerie calls it “one of the best – if not the best – links courses I’ve ever played”, this year’s Scottish Open

winner Justin Rose called it a “stunning golf course” and Phil Mickelson said: “I thought the Trump course was sensation-al. What I really enjoyed about it is that it’s really a traditional links course but it’s on a modern-day scale”. Trump Inter-national hosted visitors from no fewer than 40 countries last year; and Golfweek magazine put it right at the top of its 50-strong list of best-designed modern courses, ahead of five St Andrews courses. In other words it has already proved itself to be a good-going business on the ground – literally – and now, aiming at the city’s incoming waves of oil-related visitors, it is keen to present itself not only as a world class sporting diversion, but as a warm and welcoming host with accommodation and hospitality well up there in that class too. The exclusive Corporate Member-ship packages have proven to be a win-ning combination that includes tee times and provides special rates on accommoda-tion and dining in the resort’s two on-site restaurants. Bespoke golfing packages for 16 to 140 golfers, tournament coordina-tion, personalized branded products and

Coaching from a PGA professional are also on offer.

All of which are centred around the luxurious granite-built MacLeod House and Lodge, located at the heart of the estate and brimming with period features and old Scottish charm. It is just a few minutes from the course and the exten-sive practice facilities. The handsome, re-stored 14th-century baronial mansion and lodges have 19 rooms and is part of the Stay & Play price of £425 for overnight accommodation, breakfast and a round of golf on the championship course. The tee time rates, while – depending on seasons and desired options – rates fall steadily to £125 for Aberdeen residents keen to en-joy a round of this new golfing experience on their own doorstep.

But it is also a perfect base from which to explore Scotland generally or other golf centres in particular. The resort is situated just a few miles from two of the most esteemed links golf courses in Scot-land – Cruden Bay and Royal Aberdeen – and are only a short drive or Trump helicopter ride to Trump Turnberry,

The Trump International Golf Links is a magnet for sportsmen from across the globe but also represents a highly successful business for the local economy, says Alexander McDiarmid

Stay and play is becoming big business for Aberdeenshire

The dramatic, undulating topography at the Trump course is carved out of the natural landscape

Power of Scotlandthe times | Tuesday August 26 2014 7

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Carnoustie and St Andrews. If visitors want a full golfing itinerary or wish to soak up some Scottish culture with a trip to one of the many historic sites in the vicinity, such as Balmoral or visit one of the famous malt whisky distilleries, the team at Trump International can tailor a holiday package.

The nearest original attraction for the incoming oil executive has to be the Trump course, however, with its chal-lenging, undulating topography carved dramatically but minimally out of the gifts of nature.

The well manicured estate exudes a surprising tranquillity that begins with the mile-long, snaking drive descent from the A90. This sweeps down to the smart club-house – with its big dining-room windows looking over the dunes out to sea.

The surrounding high, marram-grass spiked dunes could have much to do with, creating natural shelter as they do. Natural is a key word, too, in terms of the course’s rugged character. While it has been designed and refined by acknowl-edged expert Martin Hawtree, its design respects the dramatically undulating to-pography, so creating special hole-by-hole challenges and interesting pace changes. Hawtree himself says: “When you go round it and play you will find it is one of the most extraordinary golf links sites you will have seen or ever will see.” And the owner echoes that. “I knew it would be fantastic – and it is,” says Donald Trump. “But seeing it in reality surpassed even my imagination – and that’s saying something.” The team at the Menie estate are proud of their project’s accessibility – an open to- all system without required membership but real flexibility in pay-and-play accommodation which means you can turn up at any time and be on the green stuff almost immediately.

Donald Trump is keeping up the momentum of his ambition to be golf’s greatest human driver by purchasing the Doonberg resort in Ireland and the famous Turnberry resort on the South Ay-rshire coast. But the North-east property remains extra-special for him, with the clue being in his own words: “Not only is it a great golf course but it’s one that’s fun to play. And it’s really beautiful. It is a different feeling building your own course rather than acquiring one someone else built. I’m a builder and I love the chal-lenge of creating something remarkable.”

Playing to win, it seems, can sometimes refer as much to society as it does to the self-esteem of a famous golfing hero.

MacLeod House and below, hole 3 of the course, where

the high grassy dunes provide shelter from the North Sea

Not only is it a great course but it’s one that’s fun to play. And it’s really beautiful. It is a different feeling building your own course

Tuesday August 26 2014 | the times

Power of Scotland8

The narrative of Aber-deen’s ascent towards becoming a global hub for the oil and gas industry begins in the deep waters of the North Sea, how-ever, one of the latest chapters in the city’s success story is being

written back on dry land. A burgeoning energy industry has

fuelled demand not just for high-quality recruits, but also for the high-quality homes they want to live in, just as the accompanying growth in the education, science, technology, and service sectors has ramped up competition for prime commercial sites. Until recently, there were few opportunities for development, and the frustrations of infrastructure limitations to contend with. Now, that’s all changing.

Some of the biggest construction capi-tal investment projects are flowing into the north-east, not least the long-awaited Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR), with preparatory works finally getting underway earlier this month. It’s a dynamic time for construction, and award-winning premium developer Dandara, which established its Scottish headquarters in Aberdeen four years ago, are positioned right at the heart of this building renaissance.

Dandara has been making a significant investment in land, both for residential, and for commercial property devel-opment, in key areas of the city, and throughout wider Aberdeenshire. With property worth in excess of £150 million already under construction, Dandara has broken ground at three strategic sites in the region in the past six months. In addi-tion to a raft of housing developments, the company is now on track to have the first phase of a major business park in place before the end of this year.

Gavin Wyley, managing director of Dandara in Aberdeen, agrees this is a significant time in the growth of the city, and explains why his company is at the frontline in both house-building, creating new communities across the north-east, and in delivering much-needed business premises for the local economy.

“It’s fair to say that unlike other areas in the UK, we’ve not had an over-supply of residential or commercial stock,” he says. “This is a region that has seen sub-stantial economic growth since the 1970s and the birth of the oil and gas industry, but infrastructure is one of the reasons that wider development of other eco-nomic sectors did not happen at the same

pace. Of course, that is going to be helped by the creation of the AWPR.

“There was also a perception regarding the longevity of the oil and gas reserves and consequently that the energy sector would not continue to grow as it has in the last four years. Now, however there is recognition that the industry has matured and diversified, and that Aberdeen has a bright future. This doesn’t just relate to the North Sea but to the worldwide intel-ligence and knowledge built up through-out the oil and gas industry. Aberdeen is now regarded as a centre of excellence, and there has been a significant inflow of people as a result.

“In addition, The City and Shire have taken steps to provide sites zoned for development over the next couple of years, and have also addressed local infrastructure issues.

“Through research, Dandara recognised this movement, and in 2010 made the Aberdeen area a priority for our business, along with the south of England. We’ve grown extremely quickly, with acquisi-tions providing us with pipeline projects for the next 10 years and more, and are now a prime developer in Aberdeen.

Aberdeen’s success as an energy capital has been dramatic and one energetic developer is investing in a major way in the construction it needs, writes Ginny Clark

Soaring ambition builds on firm foundations

“Our developments are in key areas, residential centres where our brand is established, and sought after, in the deliv-ery of premium housing. We also feel strongly about the importance of com-mercial development within the city cen-tre, and that companies should not always have to move out of town — which is the philosophy behind our push to create The Point, a grade A office development right in the heart of Aberdeen city centre.

“It’s fantastic to see the scale of develop-ment such as this in the city centre, where business and retail amenity go hand-in-hand as you see in other major cities. For us, the opportunities are immense, and the future looks very bright.”

In this corner of north-east Scotland, the knock-on effects of the economic problems barely registered on the prop-erty scene, now so intense that house price increases have reached heights of up to 15 per cent in the past year. With some local residents virtually priced out of their city, and amid a growing demand for office and workshop space, Aberdeen City Council’s Local Development Plan was launched two years ago, providing the framework for both public and pri-

vate investment in homes, businesses, and infrastructure.

Dandara was ideally-placed to respond. Prestigious housing developments such as Deeside Brae and Oakhill Grange have already been delivered by the company in the city over the past two years, with large-scale projects Stoneywood and Hazelwood now coming through. Beyond the city, Tarves Lea, at Ellon, is being fol-lowed by Fairley Grove, at Kingswells, and Crichie Bank, Inverurie.

Next up for Dandara is the £20 million transformation of Aberdeen’s historic Triple Kirks into prestigious city centre office complex, The Point. This signifi-cant project, which will breathe new life into the A-listed former church that has lain derelict since the 1970s, will ulti-mately provide seven storeys of grade A open plan office space.

The original building and its landmark spire were completed in 1843, and are regarded as one of the famous city archi-tect Archibald Simpson’s finest works. Despite their deterioration over the years, the Triple Kirks are regarded as one of the jewels of Aberdeen’s built history. This is careful work, which first began last

High anticipated demand led Dandara to embark on the first phase of City South Office Park where it has already invested £10m

It’s fantastic to see this scale of development in the city centre. For us the opportunities are immense

Cover Story

Power of Scotlandthe times | Tuesday August 26 2014 9

November on the painstaking deconstruc-tion of the North Kirk at the Schoolhill site, before the first crew of construction workers arrived to begin the next phase.

Plans for the development, which has been welcomed as a major step towards revitalising Aberdeen’s city centre, were approved by Aberdeen City Council three years ago under previous ownership,

Soaring ambition builds on firm foundations

North Kirk. Wyley expects to see strong interest from the marketplace, as The Point offers an ideal location for the many companies keen to establish them-selves in the city centre but who have, so far, been constrained by availability. He describes the project and the work on one of Aberdeen’s great landmarks as helping to “re-invigorate the beating heart of the Granite City”.

With a number of commercial projects under way, such is the anticipated level of demand, Dandara chose to embark on the first phase of City South Office Park, its second major site close to the A90 adjacent to the forthcoming Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, on a speculative basis.

Dandara, which originally bought the site from the Stewart Milne Group, has invested more than £10 million in pro-gressing this stage of City South, which will offer around 35,000 sq ft of prime office space, developed over five pavilions ranging from 3,500 to 15,000 sq ft, with the first businesses expected to pick up the keys before the end of this year.

The 40-acre City South Office Park delivers a host of amenities includ-ing a premium hotel, restaurant, retail and nursery and on site leisure facili-ties such as gymnasium, running tracks and sports pitch, alongside high quality, Grade A office buildings for occupiers and employees. Once the first phase is completed, Dandara then has a three-year development plan that will include the continued construction of high-quality office pavilions, still on a specula-tive basis, and the building of high-scale headquarters together with the provision of other amenities.

This major undertaking follows the £3.82 million sale of an office, workshop and yard facility to the IKM Group, pro-viding oil and gas pipeline services, at Dandara’s Westhill Business Park earlier this year, and an ongoing development of 50,000 sq ft of office and industrial units where premises have also been let to Bibby Offshore. In the spring, Dandara also announced it had agreed a deal to deliver a 70,000 sq ft office, industrial and yard complex for international oil and gas leader Schlumberger at Badentoy North, worth almost £1 million per year. The project, a full design-and-build, should be completed within the next few months, and it’s another example of how Dandara can work with occupying companies to maximise the value of their investment.

“Energy occupiers are now signing up to long term leases in excess of 15 years, which shows confidence in the Aberdeen

region, and in the maturity of the energy sector based here,” says Wyley. “By association, Dandara has an important role in this key time for Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

“What I’d like to think is that we are helping to contribute, just like other large employers in the area. We are also involved in working with the community here, and we are providing the same high quality to housing development, help-ing to satisfy the demand for premium homes. The development and infrastruc-ture work in this area is very much con-centrated on Aberdeen, but it could have a ripple effect throughout the north-east.

“Aberdeen remains an immensely attractive city, and I know that when energy workers move on from Aberdeen, they are always keen to return after broad-ening their skills, due to the high standard of living and quality of life we enjoy here.

Like the industry much of their busi-ness serves, Dandara is always on the look-out for the right people who can be part of delivering the commercial and residential property developments that help to address what, right now, seems an almost-insatiable market demand.

Wyley underlines the importance for the construction industry to ensure the traditional trades are still supported and encouraged, to resource the huge mobili-

sation of building materials – from stone, aggregate, steel, and glass to modern components – that are now going into the programmes of new building work across the north-east. He emphasises that to continue to deliver such large-scale pro-jects, Dandara work hard to retain a large and talented core staff base to ensure the company’s ongoing capability and strength.

That means when construction pro-jects begin, Dandara has dedicated teams in place capable of bringing each build to completion within the challenging time-frames and to the highest standards now expected by a demanding market.

Dandara, it seems, is in with the granite slabs themselves. As a business, the com-pany, and their workforce, have become part of an exciting new spell for this flourishing city. As is it is for many people who come to the city from all over the world, to do business here, Aberdeen can be a difficult place to walk away from.

“Dandara, like many companies, is looking for the right skill set, and that’s a challenge, which is to be expected in a buoyant economy,” says Wyley. “We recruit throughout the UK, and we have 300 people working for us. We also bring young people through our company, offering training, and a fantastic opportu-nity to live and work in Aberdeen, where they can see a future in the city, and in the company.”

with Dandara having since acquired the site during 2013. Halliday Fraser Munro’s design for The Point involves significant restoration work, focused on conserving the iconic spire.

Once complete, with autumn next year as the target, The Point will provide around 80,000 sq ft of commercial office space within the footprint of the former

Big developmentsThe Dandara Group was first estab-lished in the Isle of Man in 1988. Over the past 26 years the Dandara Group has become one of the UK’s leading independent property develop-ment companies, delivering a fully integrated design and build service from offices in Scotland and across the UK, completing more than 10,000 new homes and receiving more than 60 industry awards for design and quality. The Aberdeen office was established in 2010.

Gavin Wyley believes this is a significant time for Aberdeen’s growth

Hazelwood is among large-scale housing developments in the city

Tuesday August 26 2014 | the times

Power of Scotland10

November 5, is by general consensus of key industry players an “extremely valu-able” experience. And with even greater emphasis on business development and the creation of new business, the PILOT Share Fair’s role in introducing innova-tive supply chain companies to the sector helps established oil-and-gas players keep technologically ahead of the game.

“The PILOT Share Fair has grown amazingly along with the industry,” says Mr Marcos Jones “and there is room for much more growth. The whole point is to get major players and their suppliers talking about everything from integ-rity projects, upcoming drilling pro-grammes, technology requirements and plans for operations and maintenance campaigns. Better information through open and transparent discussions on forward plans enables the supply chain firms to plan more effectively in terms of delivering key personnel, equipment and services.

What do the delegates think? Looking forward to attending for the first time is Simon Nicholson, vice-president sales Europe, with GSE Systems Ltd, who says: “We joined Oil & Gas UK relatively recently — around April — but were soon acquainted with the PILOT Share Fair when, at the organisation’s annual conference in June, we got some impres-sive recommendations about it from some clients. They said it was an excel-lent forum for establishing connections

Like all good ideas, the Oil & Gas UK PILOT Share Fair is growing — and not just in its birth city of Aberdeen, where this year the event will be sponsored by Dräger. While the trade asso-ciation’s annual event continues to attract

oil-and-gas industry dealmakers there, it’s also spreading its wings and by next month, this year will have seen the addi-tion of two more such fairs in Newcastle and Norwich.

What the concept won’t be doing is growing beyond its one-day format in any of its key activity hubs. While it might not be much time to share business informa-tion between hundreds of operators, pur-chasers and suppliers, keeping the time limit on this “long but very constructive” day certainly concentrates minds.

“It’s a day which offers the chance to gain insights into new industry projects that would otherwise take months to acquire,” says Oil & Gas UK’s business development director, Stephen Marcos Jones, highlighting the opportunities to learn about operators’ and contractors’ development plans.

This year, purchaser personnel from operator and major contractor compa-nies including GDF Suez E&P UK Ltd, BP, Dana Petroleum plc, AGR, EnQuest, Total E&P UK Ltd, Amec, Technip UK Ltd, Centrica Energy, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron Upstream Europe will be on hand to present their 18-month forward plans for projects on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

Such presentations include not just updates on the relevant company’s for-ward work plan but also practical guid-ance for their audience — for example, “How do I get on a major purchaser’s bid list?” — and advice on the processes which can help firms can become poten-tial suppliers.

Another key aspect of the event is the chance for delegates to book one-to-one sessions with purchaser personnel responsible for sourcing goods and ser-vices for their future activities. In an age of increasing computerisation, which can often have the effect of making commu-nication more remote, many delegates

cite the PILOT Share Fair face-to-face sessions as incredibly valuable for estab-lishing constructive dialogue with poten-tial clients. No fewer than 1200 of these 15-minute conversations took place at last year’s event.

In addition to the presentations and the one-to-one sessions, the Share Fair also provides an arena in which industry professionals can network with many key players, meet up with existing clients, source new suppliers and make connec-tions with their peers all in one place within the space of one very productive day.

The spread of the PILOT Share Fair concept reflects the outward-looking attitude of Oil & Gas UK. With offices in both Aberdeen and London, Oil & Gas UK is focusing on strengthening the links

between the oil and gas sector’s key activ-ity hubs around the UK, including New-castle and Norwich

“As a trade association working on behalf of its members, one of our key objectives is to ensure a sustainable long-term future for the industry’s supply chain,” says Mr Marcos Jones. “Provid-ing industry information and engaging in open and transparent dialogue on our industry’s forward plans is key to that process and plays an important role in ensuring that we anchor the technology and the skills within the supply chain firmly in the UK. This is all the more important as the sector becomes increas-ingly successful in exporting its products and services to oil and gas provinces around the world.

Mr Marcos Jones adds: “To deepen our understanding of the UK supply chain and broaden awareness of the sector, Oil & Gas UK, on behalf of the Oil and Gas Industry Council, commissioned EY to undertake a major mapping project to

provide government and industry with an indication of the capabilities of the sector.

This project, launched in autumn 2103, has the full support of the Govern-ment’s Department for Business Innova-tion and Skills (BIS), the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Scottish government, and two reports were published in April this year. The first report focuses on the economic contribution of the UK upstream oil and gas supply chain while the second pub-lication provides market intelligence on the sector.

“One of the most eye-catching facts to emerge from the economic contribution report is the revelation that the UK sup-ply chain generated more than £35 billion of turnover in 2012. EY examined more than 3,000 companies actively involved in the supply chain, with over half (1,585) of those identified as UK registered, with at least 50 per cent of their turnover gen-erated in the oil and gas sector.

The data published in the reports provides clear evidence for the need to continue working together with the UK and Scottish governments to promote our advantage in the oil and gas sector, helping to encourage business growth and create jobs”

Within the wider context of the UK economy, production of oil and gas boosted the UK balance of payments in 2012 by some £32 billion. The industry paid £6.5 billion in corporation taxes on produc-tion in 2012-2013, with its total contribu-tion representing over 15 per cent of the Exchequer’s corporation tax receipts; this during a period of subdued production.

While the industry has experienced a period of record investment, it is none-theless a mature offshore oil and gas province and one of the world’s most expensive basins in which to operate and invest. Despite current record rates of investments, there are worrying signs that investment will halve over the next four years, while exploration remains at an all-time low.

“With the current challenges facing the industry, the benefits of participating in the PILOT Share Fair are all the more compelling,” says Stephen Marcos Jones, “Along with the collaborative industry initiatives like the Supply Chain Code of Practice, it is an extremely effective way to help contribute to the industry’s efforts to ensure the cost base remains competi-tive, through good business practice that helps to eliminate unnecessary expendi-ture, as well as promoting a strong indig-enous oil and gas industry.

The main event, now in its 16th year and set to attract more than 1600 attend-ees to the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre in Bridge of Don on

Who shares wins: the big fair is growingThe PILOT Share Fair has established itself as a hugely valuable information exchange – and the event is now widening its scope and appeal, reports Rick Wilson

It’s a day to gain insights into new projects that would otherwise take months

Industry intelligence

Stephen Marcos Jones says the PILOT Share Fair scheme has grown amazingly

Power of Scotlandthe times | Tuesday August 26 2014 11

Systems to meet and engage with our tar-get audience.”

So what exactly does the company offer, apart from its worldwide reach with offices in the US, India, China, Swe-den and the UK, where it has two cen-tres, in Glasgow and Stockton-on-Tees? “It is a world leader in real-time high-

fidelity simulation, providing a wide range of simulation systems, electrical, instrumentation, control and automa-tion engineering services and training, across many market sectors, including nuclear, power utilities, industrial, phar-maceutical, petrochem, chemical pro-cess, rail and the marine industry — and, of course, oil and gas.”

Neil Campbell, head of marketing with Dundee-based Brightsolid — “help-ing internal IT departments do more with less” — is also going to the PILOT Share Fair for the first time, having heard all about it from colleagues who have attended over recent years.

“As Brightsolid offers a variety of tech-nology services to the energy sector,” he says, “this is a great opportunity to sit down with a range of decision-makers and those involved in the procurement

process … just to understand what pro-jects they’ve got coming up; their plans for the months and years ahead.

“Just discussing some of their key challenges will reveal how we can best support them in these plans; how our services might be employed to develop their business.

“It might seem a lot to cover in 15 minutes but we work with many other companies in the sector and, from a tech-nology perspective, we know the trends and challenges at any given time.

“Here, the objective is to link our interests together if possible, maybe even just starting a discussion that picks up something to be enthusiastically followed through to mutual advantage after the PILOT Share Fair.”

The event delivers benefits to the big operators (such as BP, Shell and Apache) which gain from meeting a wider cross-section of the supply chain companies, while for these companies (contractors including small to medium-sized enter-prises) it provides an invaluable chance to hear about the immense diversity of work available and the technologies that are required to support those activities.

Attendance at the PILOT Share Fair is also an important aspect of the Supply Chain Code of Practice, that is all about streamlining processes and increasing value for the oil and gas industry.

“This is all about co-operation between purchasers and suppliers, with the aim of establishing strong and efficient working relationship so that the supply chain can prepare and rise to the challenge and deliver their best possible performance,” explains Stephen Marcos Jones.

In a nutshell, you should end your day at the PILOT Share Fair — as another delegate put it last year — “much better informed and with better business pros-pects than you had when you arrived”. And that seems to more than adequately justify the word “share” in its title and philosophy.

Membership and fair bookingsWhat is the essential role of Oil & Gas UK, organiser of what both a major PILOT Share Fair and two regional events? Established in 2007 with a pedigree stretching back four decades, it is a not-for-profit representa-tive trade association that speaks for the whole UK oil and gas sector as the defini-tive source of information about it — and the gateway to industry networks and expertise.

Its aim is to strengthen the long-term health of the offshore oil and gas industry in the UK by working closely with companies across the sector, governments and all other stakeholders to address the issues that affect related businesses. Through events like the PILOT Share Fair, it helps newer compa-nies to both establish a foothold in the market and gain a better understanding of tendering processes.

Other events planned for Oil & Gas UK members in the future include the regional PILOT Share Fair in Norwich on September 16, the Supply Chain Seminar on September 18 and a Speed Network-ing event in Aberdeen on September 23.

Membership is open to all companies active on the UK continental shelf, from super-majors to large contractor businesses and from independent oil companies to SMEs working in the

supply chain. It now has more than 460 members. For members, the rate to attend the Aberdeen PILOT Share Fair is £136.50 plus VAT, and for non-members the rate is £210 plus VAT. Included is admittance to the networking reception at the end of the day. The one-to-one ses-sions allow delegates to discuss contract requirements in detail with prospective clients. All PILOT Share Fair delegates can book up to three such 15-minute sessions with a supply chain representa-tive from any of the companies offering these meetings. Registered delegates will be contacted directly by Oil & Gas UK via email to arrange their one-to-one sessions. The available slots are offered on a first come, first served basis.

Bookings for the one-to-one sessions open on Monday September 15 2014. Full details for making reservations are on www.oilandgasuk.co.uk/events/pilot_share_fair.

and networking.“That kind of face-to-face interaction

is of great benefit to us from a sales per-spective … the fact that you are able to connect directly with clients, discuss and understand their needs and offer them valued solutions. That’s of real interest to us and it is a very efficient way for GSE

New links in the chain of confidence Companies delivering presentations at the PILOT Share Fair have all made a commit-ment to the industry’s aspirational Supply Chain Code of Practice (SCCoP) with signatories to the code working towards earning awards at bronze, silver, gold and “award of excellence” levels.

To earn the awards, purchasing companies have to complete the annual SSCoP compliance survey, demonstrate their commitment to the PILOT Share Fair and submit to an in-depth analysis of how they comply with the code from the perspective of their suppliers.

Suppliers assess the purchasing compa-nies on a variety of factors including speed of invoice payments, transparency of forward work planning and the use of standard contracts.

Last year year no fewer than 13 quali-fied for the award of excellence, which is reliant upon purchasers receiving gold award status for three years or more. Centrica Energy is one of

the companies who attained a SSCoP award of excellence in 2013 . The SSCoP scheme, introduced in 2002 by PILOT, the joint government-industry

forum is designed to help the UK offshore oil and gas industry improve supply chain efficiency, streamline procurement, and ensure a sustainable long-term future by boosting competitiveness with “the highest attainable standards of business ethics, health, safety and environmental opera-tions”.

Specifically, the voluntary code of practice aims to achieve these objectives by improving behaviour in the areas of plan-ning, contracts, pay and performance.

Stephen Marcos Jones adds: “Oil and gas producers on the UK continental shelf rely on the supply chain for an unrivalled range of products, services and expertise. It is important to champion collaborative industry initiatives like the SCCoP.

Our sector continues to face challenges on many fronts, including rising costs

and the need to improve capital efficiency. The SSCoP provides an important tool to enhance the efficiency of the procurement process.”

For professionals in the oil and gas industry, the event is a forum for market intelligence sharing

Centrica Energy attained an SSCoP award of excellence in 2013

Tuesday August 26 2014 | the times

Power of Scotland12

Feature

tive aspects and the monitoring of health and wellbeing and it begins before their clients’ employees have set foot offshore.

“This is a service of breadth and depth starting from the preliminary evaluation of fi tness for workers going to offshore installations. We have to make sure that people are fi t to perform their duties according to the job description, and any risks or hazards it might entail.

“Once people are offshore they are under the care of our offshore medic team who work to maintain a good health status.

“A lot of the work is physical, with long shifts, so there are issues around ensur-ing nutrition is adequate and exercise is encouraged. Someone doing a 12-hour shift in a cold, hostile environment will

develop a healthy appetite as you can imagine.”

That cold, hostile environment is something Captain Stuart MacBride, the chairman and CEO of Trinity Interna-tional Services, knows all about. He has worked in the offshore industry since 1971, and his company has fl ourished along with the oil and gas business.

Trinity became the fi rst offshore cater-ing contractors in the world to achieve quality assurance accreditation in 1994, and achieved recognition for their growth in the global offshore catering and hotel services market with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category in 2003, and again in 2005.

Capt. MacBride likes to explain the work done by his company in straight-forward terms but it is clear the catering and other services provided by Trinity are crucial to the health and wellbeing of workers offshore.

“If you think of what it takes to staff a well-run hotel, this is what we do,” he says. “We clean the rooms, do the laun-dry, cook and serve food — but it’s just that we do it in unusual places, such as 200 miles offshore from Nigeria.

He explains that 28 years ago Trinity won a national healthy eating award. “The effort almost three decades ago was

A weather eye on needs of workforce

As a global hub for the oil and gas industry, Aber-deen is not only an international centre of excel-lence for science and engineering, but specialist com-panies are also

leading the way in recruiting the doctors, nurses, catering and housekeeping staff, who look after the wellbeing of offshore workers. Offshore, matters of health and safety have an added urgency, with the focus on preventing and managing risks.

However, the day-to-day manage-ment of individual workers’ wellbeing is also crucial to the health of the work-force overall — and to the safety of eve-ryone on the installation — with clear

benefi ts in terms of recruitment, reten-tion and minimising absenteeism costs.

Leading medical and travel security services company International SOS is a global group that includes Aberdeen-based Abermed, and has 11,000 group employees working in 89 countries. “We provide medical services worldwide,” says Dr Beau Dees, the regional medical director for International SOS.

“With a network of assistance centres and clinics, we offer local expertise, pre-ventative advice, and emergency assis-tance to the global oil and gas industry.

“Oil and gas is a challenging sector, involving remote locations, testing condi-tions and occupational risks. The effect of work on health, and health on work, are key considerations. Our occupational health services are tailored to the unique needs of the energy industry, assist-ing in maintaining a happier, healthier workforce, as well as bringing tangible business benefi ts including reduced oper-ational risk, absenteeism and downtime and increased productivity.

“We deliver medical services tailored to specifi c requirements — from a one-off medical to 24/7 topside support. The oil and gas industry is subject to stringent regulatory and compliance requirements, much of our work is focused on preventa-

Scotland is a global leader in an industry that operates in a famously hostile environment. Ginny Clark talks to the companies committed to health and wellbeing offshore

Dr Beau Dees emphasises services tailored to the unique needs of the energy industry

International SOS offers emergency assistance in the North Sea and worldwide in challenging conditions

Power of Scotlandthe times | Tuesday August 26 2014 13

Trinity is a leading international provider of on and offshore catering and hotelkeeping services to the energy sector delivering:

•  Facility design, installation and commissioning•  Onboard crews led by chef managers of the

highest standard•  Healthy, diverse and regionally-themed

“tastes of home”•  Hotelkeeping and facilities management

services for rigs, platforms and vessels

IMM’s qualified doctors and medics provide OH support and consultancy for your global workforce and individual travellers

•  Provision of medical resources•  Remote healthcare•  Travel health•  OH advice and consultation

Trinity International Services Limited

Tel: +44 (0) 1224 211 755email: info@trinity-int.comwww.trinity-int.com

International Medical Management Inc. Ltd.

Tel: +44 (0) 1224 256 597email: info@intmedical.comwww.intmedical.com

Providing for the health and wellbeing of energy sector operational staff worldwide

Supporting international workers and travellers in Europe, Africa, South-East Asia and South America

Alliance House, 11 Bon Accord Square, Aberdeen AB11 6DJ, SCOTLAND, UK

considerable and was a real step change. In conjunction with a dietician and after many committed hours I was beyond delighted when we won.

“This approach to providing healthy meals was very well accepted — but three months later, there was a different view. The offshore workers were certainly enjoying the healthy meals, but they were having it with chips on the side!”

Encouraging people to eat more healthily is an education process, he says. It’s about more than just tweaking the menu. “As caterers we can’t give advice but we can identify elements of food to help people make choices.

“We can’t just say ‘eat this’. It’s a case of providing a traffi c light system and we make sure to use healthier ingredients, so we cook with low salt and provide low salt on the tables, aim for low fat, and use sweetener instead of sugar.

Much of this, he adds, is common sense, but maintaining the appeal of the food Trinity provides is crucial. “The quality of catering and hotel services are critical to staff retention. People deserve to eat well and if workers don’t enjoy their food, then this becomes a real issue as meals are a staple to a healthy happy workforce in a remote environment.

A weather eye on needs of workforce“Recruitment remains a key issue for

the oil and gas industry, so for people with the right qualifi cations and experi-ence, it’s a buyers’ market. This is also now a global market; it’s no longer just about the North Sea and Aberdeen. We have raised a whole generation of experts who travel with their expertise. Perth in Australia is like a little Aberdeen.

“On a visit there recently, I sat outside my hotel and within 20 minutes several people passed who I knew from back in Scotland. People in the oil and gas indus-try are taking their expertise and stand-ards all over the world — and they expect those same high standards when it comes to working offshore.”

As its name suggests, International SOS is also providing services wherever the oil and gas industry is working off-shore, with medics focused not only on key aspects of health care, but also on preventative work.

“Our medics are responsible for the health and wellbeing of the offshore workforce,” says Dr Dees. “They are on hand in the event of a medical emer-gency but a lot of what they do revolves around health surveillance and assessing the occupational risks and associated effects on the workforce.

“For instance, there is a lot of very noisy equipment so we need to ensure that employees’ hearing is checked and protected. Medics are also engaged in hygiene inspections with catering con-tractors to make sure there is no sick-ness. It’s all health related but more than ever before, most of our work is about prevention.”

Similarly, as Capt. MacBride explains, Trinity sees its role as part of an almost holistic approach, where the wellbeing of offshore workers can be infl uenced by many factors. “The mess room, the restaurant, has to be viewed as a haven, a place to sit down and enjoy good food, have a chat, surrounded by contented colleagues,” he says.

“In this day and age the art of con-versation has been impacted by television and social media so these areas have a somewhat different feel now. Companies, in the belief they are doing the best thing for their staff, have installed access to wi-fi and multiple channel TV.

“It’s been done with the best of inten-tions but it means that after they eat everyone disappears, and lies in a bunk watching telly or surfi ng social media — not exactly a proactive attitude to a healthy lifestyle. There are extensive gym facilities on-board many of the assets and vessels so if people can be encouraged to use them, this helps increase fi tness and wellbeing.

We are involved in that process too, encouraging people to take part in initia-tives such as a cycle challenge — pedalling away in the gym for as many equivalent

miles as they can — or Munro-bagging in their time off.”

For any company involved in manag-ing the health of offshore workers, the recruitment of their own skilled person-nel is crucial. It’s not just about the right qualifi cations, and experience, it takes a special type of individual to embrace the offshore life, where there are clear ben-efi ts and career prospects for those who choose to do so.

“The majority of our medics in the UK Continental Shelf come from two main groups, nursing through the NHS, or military people, whose experience makes them well suited to such an environ-ment,” says Dr Dees.

“It’s important when choosing people to work offshore taht there are oppor-tunities for training or to refresh their skills on a regular basis. A lot of work goes into recruiting but also in develop-ing and maintaining staff skills, we have to give people the confi dence so they can provide leadership, and have good com-

Stuart MacBride is chairman and CEO of Trinity International Services

It takes a special type of individual to embrace the offshore life but there are clear career benefi ts for those who do

Tuesday August 26 2014 | the times

Power of Scotland14

Industry Spotlight: Chemical Sciences

Energy is something we use every day in our lives but with natural resources becoming increasingly scarce it behoves us all to live and work in more sustainable

ways. Scotland’s manufacturing and chemical sciences sectors in particular, are well placed to achieve high-value sustainable processes by becoming more resource effi cient. This can help to cut costs and give businesses a more com-petitive edge. Many companies are now aiming to achieve a circular economy by maintaining products in ‘tight’ re-use, that is keeping them in remanufacturing or recycling circles for as long as possible.

Already the food and drink sectors are adopting this approach to maximise the value they get from end of life activity. For years, distilleries have benefi ted from recovered energy from feedstocks using anaerobic digestion on site and similar processes could be adapted for use by food manufacturers such as dairies.

Traditionally after making milk, cream and cheese, the whey leftover from these processes has gone into animal feed. But given these by-products can be fermented to produce gas, they can be recycled back into the plant or factory as an energy source, thereby reducing the cost of gas and electricity. Basically any process which produces organic by-products can potentially be used as a resource, or recycled as part of a circular economy. Multiple cycles of feedstock ensures maximum value from the processes.

Increasingly there is a range of

choices when it comes to looking at more sustainable alternatives. One such option is industrial biotechnology which can be used to manufacture substitutes for precious fi nite resources in a range of sectors such as pharmaceuticals, food and drink, energy and chemicals. Take plastics for instance. At the moment our gas reserves are being used to manu-facture polypropylene and polyethylene which are then made into plastics. In the future, there is no reason why everyday consumables such as mobile phones shouldn’t be made out of plastics derived

from renewable substances like specifi -cally grown micro-organisms.

Around 40 companies in Scotland are already using biotechnology to revolutionise manufacturing processes across a range of sectors. For instance Celtic Renewables has developed a new procedure to combine the two main by-products of whisky production to produce biobutanol biofuel which can be used to replace petrol, diesel and other higher value products.

Scotland already punches well above its weight in the chemical sector and has the potential to take an increasing share of the growing global market for indus-trial biotechnology, with government initiatives in this area set to increase turnover in this fast-growing sector from £189 million to £900 million by 2025. IBioIC, the newly-established industrial biotech innovation centre, is already making rapid progress by encouraging innovation and growth in this sector. It is one of eight recently established innovation centres funded by the Scot-tish Funding Council to bring together academic and private sector partners.

Indeed, sustainable manufacturing is one of the main topics for discussion at the forthcoming Chemical Sciences Scotland conference in October.

As well as looking at ways of reducing waste generation and improving process effi ciency, speakers will also address the issue of skills to make sure the current generation of graduates has the neces-sary qualifi cations to drive this sector’s ambitious sustainable agenda. The third biennial Chemical Sciences Scot-land conference takes place on October 28 and 29 at the Stirling Management Centre, Stirling. www.cssconference.co.uk

Dr Sandy Dobbie is Chairmanof Chemical Sciences Scotland

Industrial biotechnology can manufacture substitutes for fi nite natural resources

The virtuous circle that helps boost economic performance Sustainable processes are increasingly important to cutting costs and gaining competitive edge, says Dr Sandy Dobbie

munication skills. It’s a different skillset.” Capt. MacBride, who is also president

of International Medical Management, an independent company providing med-ical services to the global offshore oil and gas industry, says an ability to work in challenging environments is also crucial.

“We have people working mainly from barges offshore in Africa and Brazil,” he said. “Recently we opened an occupa-tional health clinic in Aberdeen, offering regular health checks for people working with isotopes, and one of the very few yellow fever clinics there.”

He is proud of the people who deliver offshore services through Trinity, people doing the kind of jobs he believes can often be undervalued by those outside the industry but who are crucial to the suc-cess of any offshore or remote operation.

“Recruiting the right people is critical for us at Trinity and IMM,” he says. “We want people to join a team. We all have to work together. If there is friction offshore it has the potential to affect everyone on the installation. We’re looking for person-ality and enthusiasm, people need that spark of passion. They may have only a little experience but we can add to their training and it’s their attitude that is key.”

For the right people, the rewards are clear. “Wages are somewhat different to those onshore. A housekeeper in a hotel working locally taking the decision to work offshore could potentially have the ability to more than double their salary for working just six months of the year, sometimes less.

“For catering and support services

workers, an offshore job is like night and day. It’s not just about better wages; it also provides people with real opportunities to progress. Staff who have joined us as stew-ards can end up managing projects, which shows people who have the necessary

attitude and energy can better themselves, and by that, they better the company too.”

Clearly the services offered, and work done, by International SOS and Inter-national Medical Management, fulfi l a crucial role in the offshore sector. Skilled

medics are needed not only for health monitoring and preventative practices, but also for emergency responses. Capt. MacBride, though, stresses that the types of catering and housekeeping support services provided by Trinity are just as important to the wellbeing of offshore workers and says there is a real synergy between health and wellbeing, that good nutrition, catering and clinical support service work hand-in-hand.

“My biggest frustration is the lack of real understanding of what we deliver, in reality Trinity staff are in fact food engineers.

“They undertake a highly complicated job, working with a variety of surfaces in a very compact and pressurised environ-ment, and people generally don’t under-stand how complex, and important, the work of an offshore caterer is. If we were careless in the job we could close down an installation very quickly — food hygiene is the cornerstone of what we do.”

An offshore job is like night and day. It’s not just about better wages; it also provides people with real opportunities

A Scottish company operating globally, International Medical Management has opened a new facility in Aberdeen

Last year’s sell-out conference is back and bigger and better than ever before.

This year’s conference will include sessions on the following topics:• Current Situation • Sharing the Space• Wells • Onshore Handling• Vessels and Heavy Lifters • Focusing on the Future• Technology Our speakers will share their expert knowledge of the industry while welcoming interactive discussions between representatives from operators and contractors.

Last year’s event attracted over 300 delegates from the UK, Norway, The Netherlands and the USA – don’t miss your chance to be involved in this key industry event.

Prepare to meet the exciting challenges of this expanding sector by booking a place at our conference now!

Offshore Decommissioning Conference 2014Delivering the Future Together

7 - 9 October 2014

This year’s conference will include sessions on the following topics:

Our speakers will share their expert knowledge of the industry while welcoming interactive discussions between representatives from operators and contractors.

Last year’s event attracted over 300 delegates from the UK, Norway, The Netherlands and the USA – don’t miss your chance to be involved in this key industry event.

Prepare to meet the exciting challenges of this expanding sector

Organised by:

Fairmont Hotel, St Andrews, Scotland, KY16 8PN

Principal sponsor:

Supporting sponsors:

Price: Oil & Gas UK and Decom North Sea Members: £585+VAT Non Members: £900+VAT * Member rates apply to companies who are members of either Decom North Sea or Oil & Gas UK at the time of booking.

Not for profit, Governmental bodies and other trade associations can book their place(s) using the member rate.

For further information about the conference, exhibition opportunities and to book visit:

www.oilandgasuk.co.uk/decomconf2014

Bookings now

open!