Aberdeen-based oil service company Sparrows Offshore Group said yesterday it had landed more than £36million of contracts at home and abroad, which would lead to 35 jobs locally.
The deals, a mix of new contracts and renewals, will also help keep more than 80 existing employees in work in the Granite City.
Sparrows – formerly known as Energy Cranes International – is an offshore lifting, handling and fluid-power specialist.
Chief executive Doug Sedge said: “This is an excellent start to the new year, reflecting returning confidence in the offshore sector now that oil and gas prices have stabilised at more sustainable levels.
“We continued to invest in our people and facilities through the leaner times in 2009 and we are now well placed to respond to upturning client demand.”
More than £32million of the new contracts are onshore and offshore in the UK and range from three-month projects to four-year deals with options for further extensions. The clients include Shell, Nexen, Total, Technip and Helix Well Ops and the contracts cover overhaul and installation of replacement cranes to long-term operation, maintenance and engineering services supporting entire fleets of cranes on clients’ offshore installations.
Internationally, Sparrows has just landed more than £4million of long-term contracts and projects for services in the Middle East with clients including Dubai Petroleum and Total.
The work covers services such as crane maintenance, commissioning, replacement, inspection and modification on offshore installations and barges.
Sparrows Offshore Group officially came into being in February and now has six business lines: Sparrows Engineering and Operation; Sparrows Rental; Sparrows Manufacturing; Sparrows Training; Sparrows Fluid Power and Sparrows Baricon.
Mr Sedge said of the rebranding: “We found that, following several acquisitions, many clients were not aware of the extent of our products and services portfolio.
“Our new branding reinforces for clients the breadth and depth of our expertise and resources.”
Sparrows, which has annual turnover of £160million-plus, employs about 1,500 people worldwide, including 900-plus in Aberdeen.
The company is owned by its directors plus UK merchant bank Close Brothers Private Equity.