AN ENERGY-INDUSTRY equipment-rental specialist is looking to treble the size of its operations within three years.
Coates Offshore revealed its plans yesterday as it said it had won business that could potentially yield £12million in hire sales.
The deals include a three-year contract with oilfield service company Expro to supply compressed air, steam and offshore engineers in the North Sea, Asia and Latin America. A similar contract has been signed with Schlumberger for its global operations, while the third was a previously announced five-year, £5million deal for compressed air to BP’s Schiehallion floating production vessel west of Shetland.
The three-year growth plan to take annual turnover to £50million is part of a bigger effort to increase sales to more than £150million a year at the firm which is based in Aberdeen, but owned by an Australian parent company.
Coates Offshore executive director Kieran White said it was an exciting time for the business which had been operating in the UK continental shelf for a decade.
He added: “Now is the time for real growth. We have been working with and listening to our customers on a global basis to understand their challenges and key value drivers so we can deliver the right solution, at the right time and at the right price.”
Coates has in the past year expanded operations into Singapore, Norway, Australia, Indonesia and Brazil.
It plans to open a new base at Great Yarmouth next month that will create two or three jobs. A new facility is expected to be unveiled in Angola in July.
Coates, which specialises in air-compression and steam-generation equipment, said it was making significant investments in new machinery plus refurbished products.
The business employs about 60 staff and has recently appointed a regional Asia-Pacific director.