One of Scotland’s leading entrepreneurs, Jim McColl, revealed plans today to open two oil and gas service centres in Aberdeen employing dozens of people this year.
The first follows on from Mr McColl’s Glasgow-based capital fund Clyde Blowers Capital (CBC) acquiring Rosyth-based engineering firm Parsons Peebles Generation for an undisclosed eight-figure sum.
The second will come in the wake of the imminent acquisition by CBC of an unnamed US oil service business, with operations in Texas and Louisiana.
Parsons Peebles makes custom-built electric motors and generators and the new Aberdeen centre will provide sales and technical services for the North Sea oil and gas market.
A site has not yet been found in the Granite City, but CBC hopes to have the operation up and running this year, growing the Parsons Peebles workforce from 41 to about 100 in the first two years.
The firm, established in 1898 in Edinburgh, employed about 3,000 staff at its peak.
Mr McColl said: “We believe that this heritage, complemented by a highly-skilled workforce, will provide us with a strong platform to significantly grow both market share and profitability.”
Growth plans will be based on development of new products, recapturing lost markets and an increase in technical service provision.
The deal to buy the US oil service provider, expected to close in the next two months, will be the fifth acquisition since CBC started its third capital fund last year.
The £420million fund invests in engineering companies serving the oil and gas, power and mining sectors.