Jamie Dempster is business manager at iicorr’s integrity consultancy in Aberdeen. He was hired six years ago straight from Strathclyde University – first interview, first job.
A measure of his progress is that, 12 months ago, he was working as a team leader responsible for nine staff on the offshore Azerbaijan Guneshli water-injection project operated by BP on behalf of the AIOC consortium.
It was Dempster’s success in that role that led to his being promoted to his current role, where he has a team of 20 reporting to him and he is dealing with 10 major clients.
His unit has also exceeded financial targets by more than £1million. The original target for 2008 was £1.2million.
One of the scarier moments on his career path was when Dempster was invited to London by Vodafone to present in front of its global telecoms account managers for oil majors including BP, Shell & ENI on how iicorr does businesses.
He has also just graduated with an MBA through distance learning at Bradford University.
“Working full-time and studying part-time was one of the biggest challenges of my career. It taught me the importance of making decisions quickly, making concise judgments when faced with masses of information,” Dempster told Energy.
“It also focused me on the importance of customer relationships and the impact of innovation in our industry. I want to build a team that challenge themselves every day through innovation and personal development.
“If there is one message that is clear in our industry, it is the businesses that innovate and invest in their people who will survive.
“I also want clients to understand integrity consultancy is about working with clients to identify their needs and turn needs into cost-effective solutions.
“In my role, I have had the privilege of being sent all over the world. In 2008, I was in China, Romania, Azerbaijan, Belgium and The Netherlands.
“Now more than ever, internationalisation is what our business is about. Whether this is with work or with people, it’s one of the most exciting aspects of my job, meeting new people with different ideas on business.”
Born in Lanark 1980.
Primary schools: Symington, then Tayport.
Secondary school: Madras College, St Andrews.
Strathclyde University 1998-2002 – BEng Chemical Engineering (“I stacked shelves in Safeways during summer – on nightshift”).
Bath University – Post Graduate Diploma Engineering Management 2005.
Bradford University – MBA (Master Business Administration) 2008 – December graduation.
Finalist Rising Star Northern Star Business Awards 2008.