Subsea equipment-rental firm Unique System UK unveiled £3.2million of investment at its Aberdeen base yesterday.
The firm, part of Unique Maritime Group (UMG), which has its headquarters in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, has spent the cash moving to a larger office and workshop at Dyce and increasing its pool of rental equipment by about 25%.
It has also taken on extra staff, rising from eight to 11 this year, with more growth planned.
General manager Gary Notman said the new base, which specialises in advanced survey, marine and diving-equipment rental, services, sales and training, will serve the UK and Europe and look to develop new markets.
He added: “This move to bigger and better facilities, coupled with our investment in the rental fleet demonstrates the ambition and commitment of the company to the industry and our expanding client base.
“The subsea market seems very buoyant to me and there are a lot of opportunities, not just in the UK but the whole of the continental shelf as well. With the infrastructure we have here and in Sharjah, we have a good support base.”
Mr Notman said the firm – launched in Aberdeen in 2009 – was also able to draw on the expertise of other group companies, such as air and saturation-diving system manufacturer Unique Hydra.
He added that Unique System UK sold its first North Sea air-dive system to a major subsea contractor recently through this link.
Much of the £3.2million investment was in Sonardyne 6G acoustic-positioning equipment.
This is used for positioning subsea infrastructure such as pipelines and is seen as a growing market.
The official opening was attended by the company’s founder and owner, chief executive Harry Gandhi.
Mr Ghandi set up UMG in 1993 and it has since grown to become a global business, with about 500 staff at offices in Sharjah, Cape Town, Houston, New Iberia, Mumbai and St Petersburg and annual turnover of more than £74million.