JBS Group, the innovative multi-disciplined engineering solutions and products provider, has had its best ever start to a year with £3m worth of contracts secured.

The latest contracts involve fabrication work, screw conveyors and its patented Sea Axe subsea excavation technology. 

Peterhead-based JBS has increased its team from 50 to 62 in the past six months which includes the addition of two apprentices.

JBS delivered fabrication projects for operators and energy services firms. The work included flying lead deployment frames – part of a wider collaboration project with Scottish engineering firm HCS Control Systems – and several other large-scale fabrication workscopes for long-standing clients. 

JBS also supplied dual drive screw conveyors – used for the transport of drill cuttings – to energy service firms for operations in the UK, Europe, Brazil, USA, South-East Asia and the Middle East. JBS expects to win additional work in its Brazilian market following an edict that all screw conveyors must be dual drive from now on. 

JBS has also seen increased demand for its patented Sea Axe technology, which enables fast, large-scale mass flow subsea excavation. The product is manufactured at its Peterhead base.

Sea Axe is the most environmentally friendly system of its type on the market with a small spread in comparison to competitor products minimising the need for deck space. Another benefit is that it can be safely deployed from a vessel’s A-frame or crane. 

JBS supplied a Sea Axe mass flow excavation (MFE) system complete with operational team for a pipeline burial project in Bangladesh. This version of the system included an electric HPU (hydraulic power unit).

Another project saw Sea Axe support a large decommissioning project in Thailand.

Sea Axe was also brought in to support a harbour expansion project at a Scottish port.

Sea Axe has been used across a number of sectors including energy, power & utilities and harbours & ports and in a number of regions, including the UK, Europe, US, South-East Asia and the Middle East.

Sea Axe can be used for a series of projects, including pipe/cable projects; seabed preparation; salvage and recovery; inspection, maintenance and repair, decommissioning, power plant outlet pipes; unexploded ordnance clearing; harbour clearance; subsea and windfarm structure projects.

In addition, JBS agreed deals with a series of companies in the energy and space sectors for its blast containment products, where patented fabrics are used, for ballistic, blast, fire and arc flash protection. These contracts are with clients in the UK, US, Europe and Africa. JBS has solutions engineered specifically for high-pressure testing for blast protection on rigs.

The combined value of all the contracts – secured since the start of the year – is £3m.

Jo McIntosh, sales and marketing manager at JBS, said: 
“The work we have landed makes this our best start to a year. The quality of our fabrication and our screw conveyors has been recognised by clients, while we also received a greater number of enquiries about our blast containment products. 

“Our Sea Axe forms a central part of our offering. We’ve received excellent feedback from companies about our technology and how our in-house team supported those projects.

“We have ambitious plans for growth in 2023 and beyond. We are continuing to invest in training and developing our apprenticeship programmes. More than half of our staff have come through this programme.

“Our innovative approach and ability to solve a range of complex engineering issues across several disciplines has been welcomed by the market.”

The success of JBS in international markets led to the business being shortlisted in the Going Global category of the 2023 Northern Star Business Awards, organised by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce. The winners will be announced at P&J Live on Friday, April 28.

JBS is based at South View, Dales Industrial Estate, Peterhead. The business, which has delivered projects in more than 80 countries, also provides fabrication and engineering services to the defence and fishing sectors.

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: JBS Group