Two stalwarts of the north-east oil and gas industry have sold Aberdeenshire firm Norwell Engineering.
Norwell, which has its head office in Westhill, is now owned by recently-formed Aberdeen company Elemental Energies.
It is the end of one era and the start of a new one for Norwell, which was founded by chairman Ken Fraser with three engineers in 1989.
Managing director Iain Adams joined forces with him shortly afterwards, becoming joint owner about 24 years ago.
Mr Fraser, now 75, and Mr Adams, 63, have decided the time is right to let others take control.
Mr Adams told the Press & Journal: “I’m extremely proud of our team at Norwell.
Industry firsts
“Over the last three decades we have delivered many industry firsts and been behind multiple flagship projects - from drilling wells in world record water depths to delivering more than 500 project managed wells globally.”
Norwell is currently turning over about £10million a year.
Elemental is owned by former London-based financier Michael Dafforn.
The firm was incorporated last November and entered the market with a bang a month later with the takeover of Senergy Wells, which was previously part of Aberdeen-based Vysus Group.
Elemental’s revenue is expected to exceed £27million in its first year.
The latest deal, worth an undisclosed sum, means a core international team of 15 staff and a wider group of long-term contractors will transfer from Norwell, taking Elemental’s total workforce to 105. No redundancies are expected.
Fully integrated
A spokeswoman for Elemental said Norwell would be fully integrated into the wider group and brand over the coming months.
Mr Fraser and Mr Adams will be retained in an advisory capacity, with the latter staying on in a management role to “ensure future success and smooth transition of the business”.
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