Starting life in Hexham in 2008 with a team of only 3 people, the independent engineering company has grown from strength to strength and now employs a team of 22, the majority being experienced engineers.
Initially carving a reputation for its work within the offshore oil and gas sector and working for major clients including the likes of FMC Technologies, Technip, and GE Oil and Gas, the company made the strategic decision to further strengthen its position by diversifying into new markets including nuclear decommissioning and offshore renewables
“It was clear back in early 2014 that the oil and gas industry as a whole was going to contract,” Joe Orrell, Managing Director at Red Marine explains, “and in order for a company like ours to prosper in challenging times, it was essential that we increased the value we added for our existing client base whilst proactively targeting new customers and new markets which could benefit from our service.”
With the oil price remaining at a stubborn low, Red Marine’s streamlined intelligent engineering approach to delivering consultancy support, bespoke equipment and testing services has become increasingly appealing to companies within the sector.
Joe said: “We pride ourselves on working extremely closely with our clients and sharing our hard earned knowledge and expertise to rapidly deliver engineering solutions that reduce project duration, risk and final costs. This has been our raison d’etre from day one and can be clearly seen in our track record of over 250 projects.”
Despite the downturn in the industry and as part of its bold strategic move, early in 2015 Red Marine invested in increasing its testing capabilities, by opening a state of the art test facility, four times the size of its previous premises.
Joe said: “Our test facility really compliments our other business streams and increases the value that we can add for our clients – it allows us to shorten lead times and reduce risk when developing first of kind equipment and also to play a key role in the R&D and testing activities of our clients.”
Over the course of the year the facility played a vital role in the successful turnkey development of a first of kind subsea tether clamp and more recently has been used to deliver qualification testing programs to both Technip and JDR Cables.
And as part of its ongoing diversification plans, Red Marine has already delivered a series of diver installable clamps to be fitted at one of the UK’s largest offshore wind farms following a contract win from a leading energy company.
Joe added: “We believe our success in diversifying into new markets has predominately been down to being able to carry over a business model that has universal appeal and is built on world class engineers, a fast track design process, extensive manufacturing capability and an in-house test facility. As we head into a new business year, we remain focused on further enhancing our offer and building our client base in new markets to drive the continued growth and development of Red Marine.”
From engineering consultancy, through to the manufacture of innovative equipment, to qualification testing, Red Marine delivers intelligent engineering solutions to global clients working in the oil & gas, nuclear and renewable energy industries.