From its new facility on Great Yarmouth’s South Denes Business Park, Bilfinger Salamis UK plans to strengthen its capabilities and expand its operations.

The company, which supports customers in northwest Europe in the oil, gas and wind industries, will now run all its Great Yarmouth-based activities from the purpose-built base, explains general manager for the Southern North Sea, Kenny Badenoch.

“This is an exciting time for us – Yarmouth is an important strategic location for the company,” he says.

“Bringing everything together under one roof will enable us to offer a more streamlined service and to build on existing capabilities and expand operations.”

He adds: “This is the most significant investment in our southern North Sea base since we opened our first premises in Yarmouth in 1981.”

Bilfinger Salamis UK, which also operates from Aberdeen, provides maintenance, modification and  operations (MMO) services to customers including Statoil, ConocoPhillips, Perenco and Oranje-Nassau Energie (ONE) UK.

In March, the company also secured a multi-million-pound technical manpower services contract with Shell UK, which is managed from Yarmouth.

“Within the last year, our operation here has secured projects worth more than £75m with several oil and gas companies,” Mr Badenoch emphasises.

“Between Aberdeen and Yarmouth, Bilfinger Salamis UK’s revenue last year was approximately £143m.

“We have ambitious plans to continue our growth to over £200m within five years and this new facility will be key to that growth.”

Bilfinger Salamis UK is part of the global Bilfinger Group, which has some 36,000 employees and an output volume of £4bn. The UK operation has a workforce of more than 1,800 offshore workers and 250 onshore staff.

Its services cover all lifecycle phases of both offshore and onshore assets, from planning and design through to development and construction.

“We focus on commissioning, maintenance, modification and decommissioning; we provide integrated services combining expertise in multi-disciplined maintenance, inspection, architectural outfitting, deck support, and specialist cleaning services for the energy sector,” Mr Badenoch explains.

"And in everything we do, we have a clear and firm commitment to health, safety, environment and quality (HSEQ). We expect further growth in all these areas, especially inspection and renewables.

“This is our first year working at Sheringham Shoal wind farm, for example, and our plans are for significant expansion in this area over the years to come.”

The new facility in Yarmouth looks out over the North Sea and offers some 4,000sq ft of internal warehouse space, 3,500sq ft of office space together with an outside yard of more than 8,500sq ft.

“The building, which is heated via a ground source pump, is eco-friendly and energy-efficient,” he explains.

“It is in an excellent location for both shipping and the road infrastructure, and there is space for further expansion in the future when it is required.”

Over the next year, about 30 more jobs will be created a direct result of the new facility opening. As more contracts are won, this figure will only increase.

“We are bidding for more work all the time and having everything under one roof in Yarmouth puts us in an even stronger position to continue to do this,” Mr Badenoch says.

“We are ideally situated to deliver operations to our clients in the southern North Sea, and as we continue to grow as a business this will only benefit both Bilfinger Salamis UK and the local economy.”

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Bilfinger Salamis UK