Express Engineering, a global leader in innovative manufacturing, assembly and testing solutions for the subsea oil and gas industry, has seen its growth and product development success recognised by the UK’s venture capital sector.
The Gateshead firm won the Mid-Market Management award at the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association’s (BVCA) Management Team Awards, recognising the leadership team’s success in transforming the company’s fortunes and trebling its order book in less than 15 months under chair Chris Thompson.
Express Engineering was also praised for earnings’ growth, creating dozens of new jobs and introducing a new range of subsea oil and gas products.
The company is seeing a strong performance with revenues on target to exceed £30m during this year, winning new orders in March as it maintains a strong operation during the COVID 19 crisis.
It is also investing in partnership with UK Land Estates in a new £3.5m assembly and test facility as part of a focus on an expanded product strategy to supply assembled and tested actuators, connection systems and tooling for wellheads and subsea tree structures for the oil and gas sector.
When this facility comes on stream in late 2020, additional skilled engineering roles will have been created, primarily involved in manufacturing connection systems and other subsea technologies.
Gary Thirlwell, managing director of Express Engineering, who thanked investor LDC for supporting the company’s entry, said: “Winning this award is testament to the hard work the team have put into growing the business and I am extremely proud of our performance.
“The investments we have made in new facilities, technology and people to provide sector leading customers with the best quality subsea products has been recognised.”
The BVCA Awards are the only awards to provide an annual showcase for the best businesses in the UK backed by private equity and venture capital.
Express Engineering’s growth was recognised by the BVCA Award judges in making their decision, who said: “The management team has successfully transformed the business, returning it to profitability and substantially growing its revenues, as well as its headcount. We were impressed with the scale and speed of the transformation.”
Working with customers like TechnipFMC, Baker Hughes and Aker Solutions, Express Engineering is a significant exporter of products, operating within various geographical areas, including the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, east coast of Brazil, east and west coasts of Africa and Australasia.
