Subsea Specialist Flexlife Opens Base in Newcastle

29 September 2011

Subsea project and integrity management specialist Flexlife has expanded its UK offering by opening a new base in Newcastle Gateshead Quayside.

The award-winning company has appointed Andrew Lake as director of operations for the new base and plans to recruit a further 25 staff by the end of this year, rising to 50 within 18 months.

As well as attracting new recruits into the industry, Flexlife believes the new location will be a draw to many workers who currently commute weekly to Aberdeen and other energy hubs.

Chief operating officer John Marsden said: "We already have a highly skilled team and are confident we will quickly attract the same calibre of staff for our Newcastle office.

"We know from experience that there is a talented pool of highly skilled staff in the Newcastle area and we are hoping to tap into that.

"We are already off to a great start with Andy taking charge of our operations in Newcastle.

"Looking ahead, the Newcastle office will play a large role in the continuing growth of the subsea sector in the North East of England.”

Mr Lake said: "The new office will not only expand Flexlife’s ability to offer clients specialist support at the highest level but will provide us with the capability to expand our range of services to include front end engineering design to support the ongoing work for our clients.”

Flexlife reported an increase in turnover of more than 50% for year ending 2010/11, with a rise from £4.8m to £7.5m.

A further rise to circa £18m is predicted for 2011/12.

As well as the new office in Newcastle, Flexlife has expanded in Brazil and the United States and taken on a new global HQ in Aberdeen.

The company also operates in Africa, the Far East and Mediterranean and staff numbers globally are expected to reach 120 by the end of this year.

Major clients include Apache North Sea, to which Flexlife provide subsea project management services, Chevron, Total, CNR and BP.

The company offers a unique approach to subsea integrity management by combining systems development, operational execution and product and service deployment in an integrated package to minimise risk and maximise asset uptime.

Flexlife has invested significantly in research and development since its formation in 2007.

The company has developed several patented solutions to common problems faced by the oil and gas sector including asset integrity management products FlexGuard and FlexGel.