Aberdeen-based oil and gas consultancy Optimus has hailed its “best ever” period in its 15-year history after turning over contracts worth more than £5million in the ten weeks to end-January.
But while turnover in the engineering firm’s most recent financial year grew 32%, profits were flat as the firm said it “sacrificed” margin on investment in new offices, staff and technology.
Managing director Karl Green said: “We sacrificed profits to build our team and development capabilities, and procure new hardware; we hired experienced people even if we didn’t have immediate work for them,” said Mr Green. “This was the correct decision for last year, providing a real growth spurt and building our capabilities to support fit-for-purpose delivery in the modern era.
“This has made us a stronger unit to fight the good fight this year, as we continue to deliver lower-cost solutions, and that is bearing dividends now. For 2015, we want to consolidate on that growth.”
The firm said it has “bids on the table” worth £5million, including £1million of decommissioning work and a number of opportunities to work on assets along the coast of West Africa, and is positive of winning a significant proportion of them.
Mr Green said the firm was exceeding targets “despite the low oil price and doom and gloom throughout the industry”.
He added: “We see a bright future for small companies of experienced people doing what they said they would do and doing it right. We have no large management overheads and no cast of Ben Hur to watch the engineers engineer. Although there are storms ahead we’re in a very good place to weather them.”
The recent deals for Optimus included an integrity review of an aging North Sea asset and a replacement firepumps project. It has also started work on two projects in the nuclear industry at Dounreay and Sellafield.
The company claimed it turned over £20.4million during 2014, up from £15.4million on the prior year.
Pre-tax profits were flat after the company grew its workforce from 106 to 136 and moved into larger premises on Rubislaw Den North.
Optimus was established in 1999 by director Ian Bell.
In addition to its Aberdeen headquarters, Optimus has bases in Inverness in the Scottish Highlands; Bangkok, Thailand; and Varna, Bulgaria.