A north-east firm that specialises in oil and gas security services is toasting success after one of its bosses picked up a prestigious award.
Rob Diver, operations director at Praesidio, of Aberdeen, received the Innovator of the Year title at the Ex-Forces in Business Awards in Glasgow earlier this month.
The ceremony is designed to mark the commitment and contribution of former service men and women to industry.
It also aims to “identify role models” and career paths for people who are either leaving or have left the forces.
Praesidio was launched five years ago by Diver after he left Police Scotland following a road accident in which he almost lost his leg.
Prior to joining the police he was part of the British Armed Forces, a role which gave him an in depth knowledge of the global security landscape.
Diver said he had always an oil and gas “business concept” and in 2016, after being medically retired, he decided to put that into action.
Alongside his partner Jeff Robinson, a former servicemen of 23 years and a two time Invictus wheelchair rugby finalist, Diver started Praesidio.
The company, which has a base in Waterloo Quay in Aberdeen Harbour, helps oil and gas firms to draw up safety security procedures in order to keep their staff safe overseas.
Diver said: “Our primary focus is supporting oil and gas companies that don’t have full time security infrastructure.
“They tend to be service companies for larger firms but they realise now, with the increase in duty of care legislation, that they have to be more compliant when they’re sending people to hazardous environments.
“We bridge that gap, go in and help them to manage the risk of operating overseas.”
He added: “We prepare individuals for the unique challenges they are going to come across. It could be anything from losing a passport ot being detained by customs, all the way through to a terrorist incident.
“What we do is go to an organisation and address that through risk management on each level. If something does happen, you’ve got teams that better understand how to cope.”
Praesidio currently has a core team of four, augmented by sub-contractors based overseas in Africa and the Middle East who have a “broader range of movement” and local knowledge.
Over the years it has worked with “a lot of companies” based in Aberdeen but with overseas operations, aiding them to put security protocols in place.
Political and social instability in many parts of the world has forced oil and gas companies to take a proactive approach to security in recent times.
Earlier this year, Total pressed pause on an LNG project in Mozambique and withdrew its personnel from the site, following a terrorist attack in the country.
Elsewhere, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have carried out attacks against oil and gas facilities in the Middle East.
Diver said: “For too long supply chain companies in the industry have worked for oil and gas giants and assumed they will provide protection due to their scale.
“But, a firm might have personnel in a country for four days before they mobilise and during that time, they’re under their duty of care.
“They’ve got to prepare them, put emergency response planning in place and have mitigation to reduce the threat – that’s where we come in.”
Diver added: “Global security has changed a lot in the last two decades and there’s been so many international challenges. It ranges from from global warming and the increasing prevalence of wild fires and the like, right through to terrorism.”
Looking ahead to the future of security, as well as health and safety, in the oil and gas industry, Diver said UK oil and gas sector will begin to look further afield.
He said: “The North Sea has scaled back operations quite significantly now. There will be new exploration but there is certainly a significant focus on decommissioning projects.
“More and more companies are finding now that they’re having to operate in emerging countries such as Mozambique and Guyana.
“I think we’re going to see a lot more local firms looking to operate in these foreign environments. Many of them won’t have been to them before so for us, its about getting them ready to deal with the unique challenges they’ll face while they’re there.”
