Within days of taking the helm at Viking Moorings in September 2011, Bill Bayliss launched a 100-day plan to propel the company forward.
The progress has continued since a relaunch of the business, now Viking SeaTech, in April.
Mr Bayliss, who took over as chief executive from Wolfgang Wandl last September, is looking forward to celebrating a string of significant achievements in his first year in the job.
But the 49-year-old – likened by some people who know him to Harrison Ford – is keen to point out that making the company a global success is all about “evolving at pace and maintaining momentum”.
Even so, the firm’s recent activities on the international stage show it has not been slow to take advantage of new opportunities.
Viking carries out engineering services, including mooring analysis and modelling for rig locations and moves, and has recently diversified into broader asset-management work.
Its Australian office is on the brink of announcing contract awards from oil and gas companies Santos and Shell to add to work already secured from clients such as Chevron, Woodside, BHP Billiton and Hess.
In Singapore, Viking recently delivered a structure for Russia’s Sakhalin Island region and landed a contract from Seadrill covering more than 20 rigs in Asia Pacific – potentially one of the largest deals the company has secured in the area.
Mr Bayliss said the company’s UK and Africa operations, run from Aberdeen, were also busy with further work on Shell’s North Sea Brent field.
In Egypt, the company has been commissioned to do work for Rashid Petroleum Company.
Viking also recently signed a co-operation agreement with Swedish company Moorlink and was awarded a three-year contract by Ocean Rig to provide mooring equipment and inspection services to the deepwater rig Leiv Eriksson.
The next few months are likely to be just as hectic, including Mr Bayliss addressing delegates at the Offshore Northern Seas event in Norway at the end of August.
He will be giving companies an insight into how they can follow Viking’s example of building up a strong position in the North Sea, Western Australian and Asian energy markets.
ONS will also see the launch of Viking’s new rig-positioning service and this will be followed in September by the unveiling of a new manpower business.
Plans to open offices in Indonesia and Houston for the Gulf of Mexico are also well advanced.
Viking, which employs 140 people, including about 40 at two sites in Aberdeen, has targeted £60million turnover this year and is looking to grow the business by 15% to 20% annually in the coming years.
Mr Bayliss said the firm’s commitment to health, safety, security, environment and quality was a key factor in it winning so many new contracts.
He is particularly proud of the company’s achievement of having no lost-time incidents this year.
Born and raised in the west Midlands, Mr Bayliss first arrived in the north-east for degree studies in engineering and risk management at Aberdeen University.
He started his career in the power generation and petrochemical industry and moved into oil and gas in 1991, working with Brown and Root (B&R) in London and Aberdeen.
Mr Bayliss then worked for Kvaerner Engineering in Norway until a second stint with B&R brought him back to Aberdeen for a series of engineering, project management and operations roles, although he also had a two-year assignment in Canada.
In 2004, he joined energy service firm Petrofac to set up an engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning support business which grew significantly under his stewardship.
Five years later, Mr Bayliss moved to Dubai as chief operating officer of Topaz Engineering and was accountable for four business units and more than 4,000 employees.
Joining Viking last year meant a return to Aberdeen, where he lives with wife Joanne, daughter Abigail, 18, and 11-year-old son Alex.
He enjoys playing golf and ski-ing whenever he gets the chance, walks four miles each morning with his dalmatian, Frankie, and is a passionate supporter of West Bromwich Albion Football Club.
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