Flexlife Pipe Specialist Wins Top Industry Honour

13 February 2009

A leading flexible pipe specialist headquartered in Aberdeen has been named the Best Newcomer in the prestigious Subsea UK Awards for 2009 held this week.

flexlife was established by directors Stuart Mitchell, John Marsden and Carl-Petter Halvorsen in 2007 and is on track to record £3million turnover for 2008.

The innovative consultancy has rapidly gained a reputation for offering cost-effective, safety-conscious solutions for clients around the globe, including Total, Chevron, Subsea 7, PA Resources, Maersk UK and Apache North Sea.

Stuart Mitchell said: “Winning the Best Newcomer award is a fantastic achievement and a great accolade for us from a very important industry group. Our patented technology has clear environmental and cost benefits and we are delighted that this has been recognised at such a level.

“We aim to continue to win work internationally, increase staffing levels and develop further new products. Our target is to reach £20million turnover within five years and expand our team to 50 people based in Aberdeen and at key locations around the world.''

flexlife secured patents shortly after it was formed and the first of its products was recently launched in partnership with AGR Field Solutions. flexlife's scanning technology mounted on AGR Field Solution's ROV Neptune product can scan flexible pipes and risers in situ to detect leaks and corrosion. The technology has been hailed as an industry breakthrough with the potential to greatly reduce the risk of major hydrocarbon leakage and associated environmental, personnel and production impact.

The company also invested £750,000 in a new HQ in Aberdeen in 2008 and is due to open bases in Perth, Australia, and Brazil, early this year.