Entrepreneur Doug Duguid has a strong north-east farming background, but he was always interested in engineering.
The growth of the North Sea oil and gas industry presented him with major openings to advance his career from the late-70s onwards.
Mr Duguid said: “I had the confidence to take on new things and was never put off. There were many opportunities in the early days.”
He started out in the business as a mechanical technician apprentice with Wilmar Engineering in 1978 and his career has been one of significant upward progression since then.
One of the highlights to date was his involvement with PSL Energy Services.
Father-of-five Mr Duguid was part of the original management buyout team which rescued Aberdeen-based PSL from receivership in 2003 and built it into a company with a £110million turnover and 1,200 staff, before selling to Halliburton four years later in a deal worth more than £120million.
Some people may have decided to take time out after that successful deal, but not Mr Duguid. After only a short break, EnerMech was born.
The Aberdeen-based mechanical service firm was set up in April 2008 by former PSL owners Mr Duguid, Michael Buchan, Derek Grant and Phil Bentley with a combined capital investment of more than £30million by the four shareholders and private-equity player Lime Rock Partners.
The following year, another ex-boss at PSL, John Wingfield, arrived as a director.
Mr Duguid said the decision to start EnerMech prompted a mixed reaction in the industry. Some people thought he was crazy, others said “good on you”.
The managing director and has team have proved the doubters wrong in a major way. Just last month, EnerMech raised its annual turnover target for 2010 to £65million. It now has 500 staff in the UK, America, Norway, Caspian, Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
EnerMech also said recently that Lloyds Banking Group had provided new funding worth up to £24million which will help to finance further international expansion and acquisitions.
That support, allied to £36million equity investment from Lime Rock and £5million from the five original shareholders/directors, will push EnerMech towards its goal of achiev- ing annual turnover of £160-£180million with 1,500 staff on the payroll in 2014.
Mr Duguid, 48, said about the decision to start EnerMech: “Some people thought we were crazy and said why not put your feet up but others were much more positive. I wasn’t ready to take it easy and I also love the competition and I love to win.
“I enjoy working with smart people and EnerMech is full of smart people. I thrive on motivating people to do exceptional things and already I can see many around me who are capable of going beyond the ordinary, and this was a massive driver for me going back into business.”
EnerMech has grown at breakneck speed. It expects to make a further two acquisitions by the first quarter of next year and is to invest £2million in launching a new valves division, focusing on the supply, maintenance and repair of valves to the upstream oil and gas sector.
Mr Duguid said: “It may seem fast and furious but this has always been part of our business plan and the new valves division mirrors our approach to our other business lines.
“Our belief is there is a market demand for a better-quality, more-responsive, lower-cost service, and we are responding to that need.
“We have backed our convictions with our own money and are fortunate to have the backing of a venture capitalist and bank which have confidence in our strategy, and in our abilities as a team, to build a large, good-quality business.”
Looking further ahead, Mr Duguid would like to see EnerMech being floated on the stock market.
The past couple of years have not been without their challenges, but the firm emerged in better shape than most companies negotiating the credit-crunch turmoil.
Mr Duguid said: “There is no question 2009 was tougher than anyone expected. When Michael Buchan and I were pulling together our business plan in early 2008 we had $140-a-barrel oil and not a whiff of a banking crisis. When the price fell to $36 a barrel, and the financial system as we knew it collapsed, it was pretty scary, but I was always confident our strategy was the correct one.
“The customers were telling us our competitors had become complacent and unresponsive, and if you respond effectively and efficiently to that need you will be successful.”
Looking outwith his own business, Mr Duguid predicted the North Sea energy sector would continue to offer up many opportunities. He said: “Never forget the North Sea is still the benchmark for technical innovation and that we work in one of the strictest regulatory regimes in the world. Business conditions remain quite tough, with prices still under pressure, however, there are more new-build capital expenditure projects coming in the next two to three years than we have had for more than a decade.
“There are other opportunities in renewables and, in the longer term, decommissioning – EnerMech is targeting both markets – and I would expect there will still be significant business coming out of Aberdeen for the next 20 to 30 years.”
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