September 5th 2003 saw the official launch of Subsea UK. After a series of workshops designed to establish the key priorities facing the British subsea sector, the overwhelming response was that a trade body was essential in order to maintain the UK’s leading edge in a global industry with a then capital expenditure of £2billion.
Launching the organisation at Offshore Europe, Lewis MacDonald MSP stated: “Subsea UK will enhance business prospects and ensure a vibrant future for the UK industry.” Just over a decade later, this has been borne out; this year’s Business Activity Review indicates that the British subsea market is now worth £8.9billion, representing a global market share of 45%. The sector sustains 66,000 jobs compared to 25,000 in 2003. In a faltering economic climate, the subsea sector has outperformed other areas of industry and witnessed continual growth. Subsea UK has been responsible for championing the sector and ensuring that such growth continues into the next decade and beyond.
Subsea UK was a joint initiative between the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Scottish Enterprise owing to an increased recognition of the sector’s importance to the British economy. Realising that the North Sea market was changing, and with increased overseas developments and international competition, Subsea UK sought to draw together operators, contractors and SME’s in order to build an enhanced profile for both the industry and its members. By taking a pro-active approach, it was hoped that Subsea UK would create a single and cohesive voice to represent the entire UK supply chain and its wealth of resources.
So began a series of consultation workshops during 2003, overseen by the DTI, which engaged directly with all sectors of the industry including suppliers, contractors, universities, operators, and Government bodies. A subsequent peer review unanimously concluded that Subsea UK was vital if Britain was to maintain its world-leading reputation for which it had become renowned.
As well as ensuring that this remained, there was also a need to address the increasing technological challenges facing the industry as focus shifted to deep water territories, something that could be done by sharing best practice. In turn, this would, it was hoped, position the industry to cope with wherever the market headed in the future.
In 2004, David Pridden was appointed as the organisation’s first chief executive bringing with him 25 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, including spells with McDermott Marine Construction, Kongsberg Subsea Developments and BP. The appointment was warmly welcomed by the industry as was the addition of Technip’s Ron Cookson as interim chairman, which was followed by the appointment of Bill Edgar as the organisation’s first Chairman in January 2005. Mr Edgar had been involved in the Subsea and Offshore Oil and Gas Industry for over 35 years as Managing Director of Seaforth Engineering, Group Director of the John Wood Group and Chairman of the J.P. Kenny Group for 10 years. That same year, Subsea UK launched its directory of subsea companies ensuring the industry had a clear and concise point of reference when looking to build connections.
Following the appointment of Trish Banks as operations manager to oversee the daily running of the organisation, 2005 was a busy year for Subsea UK. It undertook a successful event in Paris, membership broke the 100 barrier, David Pridden led the first subsea visit to Brazil and Subsea North East was launched. That same year AD Little forecast that the global subsea market could be worth over £5billion by 2007, with Subsea UK determined to work on behalf of its members looking to capture a considerable share of that.
In 2006, Subsea Asia was launched, drawing together a range of experts to discuss the latest developments and challenges relating specifically to Asia Pacific subsea operations. The conference has proven to be hugely successful, increasing in size annually.
Similarly, closer to home Subsea UK’s annual event was increasing in prominence. The first event, Subsea 2004, played host to 200 delegates and 40 exhibitors, but by 2007 the conference and exhibition had grown to 90 exhibitors and 1000 visitors, with the then Shadow Chancellor George Osborne as keynote speaker. Announcing its vision that by 2020 the UK would capture a $15billion share of the global market, Subsea UK went on to attend and host a number of global events including a Westminster reception and workshops in Mexico and Cairo demonstrating the potential of emerging overseas markets.
Between 2007 and 2010, under the direction of CEO Alistair Birnie, Subsea UK enjoyed rapid growth in reputation and size. Membership grew to 170 members and the Safety Leadership Forum was launched. The organisation was called upon to work with the Energy Institute on guidelines targeted at obsolescence and risk management for subsea systems and training body OPITO on a range of POL (petroleum open learning) modules.
2011 was a period of change for Subsea UK with Neil Gordon joining as chief executive in July, followed by new board members in November. An online database of CVs was launched alongside a number of subsea engineering scholarships at universities in areas with a strong subsea heritage. The Safety Leadership Forum announced its Common Induction Framework which sought to streamline safety processes across the industry and help remove the internal differences between companies.
In June 2012, Westhill in Aberdeenshire was named as a global centre of excellence in subsea engineering and garnered the moniker SURF City (subsea, umbilicals, risers and flowlines) reflecting the prevalence of subsea organisations based in the area. Subsea UK moved its headquarters to Westhill that year, joining 6,000 people working in the industry already based there.
And so to 2013, which has been one of the most successful years in the organisation’s history. Subsea UK’s Business Activity Review, which surveyed 750 companies from across the supply chain, found that the UK sector is now worth £8.9billion, representing a 45% share of the global market. Subsea Target, the organisation’s flagship initiative aimed at addressing the critical skills shortage in the industry was launched earlier in the year whilst a revised series of subsea engineering modules run in conjunction with Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University was launched in December.
With membership now standing at nearly 300 subsea companies, drawn from the whole of the supply chain, Subsea UK’s membership comprises the vast majority of the total industry in Britain. As we move into more challenging and harsher environments, subsea technology and our unparalleled skill set is being called on as never before. Subsea UK will continue to act on behalf of its members both at home and abroad to ensure the future of the industry continues to go from strength to strength.
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