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International focus at NSBA

A company which started life with three employees working from a garage in Peterculter in 1994 now has offices around the world and a turnover expected for this year of almost £19million – 90% of which comes from its international sales.

The development path of Downhole Products, which manufactures and supplies a range of specialist casing accessories and completion tools for the oil and gas industry, is typical of an increasing number of North-east companies which are making their mark in international markets.

The Scottish Chambers of Commerce quarterly business report which has been published shows that while economic recovery is still fragile, the strong manufacturing performance which began to show at the start of the year has continued into the second quarter – due in large measure to strong performance in export markets.

Downhole Managing Director Ian Kirk confirmed this trend when he said their business had increased dramatically in the past 12 months and they have invested heavily in Kuala Lumpur, Dubai and Houston with large offices and warehouses. The company now employs 50 people in the UK and has increased staffing levels at all facilities to deal with the upturn in business. In 2011, the expectation is that Russia will be their most successful international market.

“We didn’t know how it was going to pan out when we started,” said Mr Kirk. “We knew we were operating in a global marketplace but we were just a small company starting up in garage and we’ve gone from that to where we are today.

“In the early days the North Sea was a big part of the operation but the international side of things started to take over very quickly within the first five years and is now 90% of our business. We have grown in strength because our products are needed all over the world.”

The company’s achievement has now earned them a place on the shortlist for the Achievement in International Business Award at this year’s Northern Star Business Awards organised by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce.

In competition for the same award are the Hydrasun Group, KCA Deutag and Optima Solutions.

Hydrasun, a leading provider of a wide range of fluid transfer, power and control solutions has a key objective to achieve year on year growth in international sales of 20%. Since 2005 their international sales have quadrupled from £5.7m then to £24.6m in 2010.

Over the past 12 months they’ve exported products and services to more than 50 countries – including new business in Australia, Angola, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana and UAE, seen the number of employees rise by 5% and financial turnover by 11%.

Optima, which specializes in providing rig cooling solutions operates in more than 25 countries and set up an operating base in Perth, Australia, two years ago. Within that period the company has also grown its international operation by 46% with 73% of its revenue coming from international markets.

Drilling contractor KCA Deutag which employs more than 8,000 people and operates in more than 20 countries increased its market penetration in the past 12 months by securing new business in Iraq, Canada, Australia and Brazil. International sales accounted for 83% of their turnover in 2008, and that’s risen to more than 90%.

The company has also been shortlisted for the Overall Global Business of the Year Awards with their achievements over the past 12 months including their best ever safety performance across more than 100 drilling operations worldwide – well above industry average.

Three other companies are in the running for the Global Award – Entier, quedi and Accenture. Entier, a finalist last year in the Overall Medium Sized Business Award, is a catering company specialising in the use of fresh, local produce offshore which is increasingly growing its international involvement.

Providing a global consultancy service, supported by its new GO Technology, to the oil & gas industry qedi has seen its turnover increase from £10 million to £60million over the last six years, breaking its own 2010 target forecast of £48million.

Accenture has just celebrated 20 years as a provider of outsourced finance and accounting services for one of the world’s majors operating in the North Sea. Securing the original contract in Aberdeen represented the start of a global BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) business with more than 400 clients in 150 countries and 35,000 employees around the world.

The Northern Star Business Awards take place on Thursday October 6 in the Press & Journal Arena at the AECC. To book a table, contact the Events Team on (01224) 343901 or book online at www.agcc.co.uk/events