Express Engineering and her innovative manufacturing, assembly and testing solutions for the subsea oil and gas industry, have been recognised by the UK’s venture capital sector
The Gateshead firm won the Mid-Market Management award at the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association’s (BVCA) Management Team Awards, recognising the team’s success in trebling its order book in less than 15 months under chair Chris Thompson.
They were also praised for earnings’ growth, creating dozens of new jobs, and introducing new subsea oil and gas products.
Revenues are on target to exceed £30m during this year, and a partnership is underway with UK Land Estates in a new £3.5m assembly and test facility, to supply assembled and tested actuators, connection systems and tooling for wellheads and subsea tree structures for the oil and gas sector.
When this facility comes on stream in late 2020, additional skilled subsea engineering roles will have been created, primarily involved in manufacturing connection systems.
Gary Thirlwell, managing director, thanked investor LDC for supporting the company’s entry: “Winning this award is testament to the hard work the team have put into growing the business, and I am extremely proud of our performance.
The investments we have made in new facilities, technology and people to provide sector leading customers with the best quality subsea products has been recognised.”
The BVCA Awards are the only awards to provide an annual showcase for the best businesses in the UK backed by private equity and venture capital.
Express Engineering’s growth was recognised by the BVCA Award judges in making their decision, who said: “The management team has successfully transformed the business, returning it to profitability and substantially growing its revenues, as well as its headcount. We were impressed with the scale and speed of the transformation.”
Working with customers like TechnipFMC, Baker Hughes and Aker Solutions, Express Engineering is a significant exporter of products, operating within various geographical areas, including the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, east coast of Brazil, east and west coasts of Africa and Australasia.
