Operations, Management and Maintenance Support Specialist Celebrates 15 years” Global Success

Phil Black - PII Editor 03/02/2015

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A Great Yarmouth company is marking 15 years of offshore service to a long and envied client list by setting its sights on new markets.

EPIC International, which also has a base in West Africa, has had year-on-year growth since it began and is ready take its successful formula of highly-skilled staff, exemplary working practices and original solutions to new projects and markets this year.

EPIC International has provided operations, management and maintenance support with well service, procurement, logistics and other associated services across the world since 2000, with expertise supporting Normally Unattended Installations (NUIs) for offshore operator companies.

It employs an average of 100 people on projects at any time and prides itself on its flexible and pragmatic approach to every project.

Well services have been a growth area for the company since manager Gary Brown joined in 2004 and now an average of 50 workers are engaged on projects worldwide at any one time, compared to six to eight people a month a decade ago.

EPIC’s client portfolio includes Ithaca Energy, Baker Hughes, Centrica, Shell, BP, Halliburton, ConocoPhillips, Perenco, Modec and Stimwell amongst others.

Managing director Dave Rowan, who started the company in a temporary building in the grounds of the old AMEC site in Great Yarmouth, is now poised to expand operations from EPIC’s head office on Vanguard Road on Gapton Hall Industrial Estate in Great Yarmouth.

“Now our core business is well established and growing, we are looking to develop into new markets and territories.”

The company set up its Ivory Coast base in Abidjan in 2012, where it now employs 20 people on inspection and fabrication work for clients like Baker Hughes, Franks International, Modec, Halliburton, Dolphin Drilling, the national oil company Petroci and others.

Paul Martins, who joined the company in 2007 as finance director, said the company had enjoyed year on year growth since its inception, and there was no reason for this trend not to continue with some excellent prospects already lined up for 2015.

EPIC has a successful record in well plugging and abandonment work for decommissioning, a reputation already carved by successful management of the decommissioning of the Camelot platform for ERT/Helix in 2011 (a particularly difficult project as it was to be re-furbished and then moved to new location) and earlier decommissioning of the Wellend platform for Perenco,”

“Clients we have worked with have always been complimentary about the quality of the people we employ. It doesn’t matter if we supply operations support or project engineering in the office, there is a consistent high quality of personnel. We have built a reputation for our different approach. We are proactive rather than reactive and are often called innovative.

“We also have the flexibility. We don’t have corporate restraints placed on us. We are known for our quick decisions and speedy responses. It’s EPIC ethos”

“Our reputation is for the constant delivery of the best people and the best quality work, as well as the knowledge we have of the industry and how we understand clients’ requirements and see each job as individual because no two jobs are the same.”

Dave’s extensive offshore career, knowledge and hands-on leadership – he was still working offshore until four years ago and still carries out surveys himself – has led to EPIC International using its own systems to run projects for big operators.

“We are trusted by operators. We are also seen as a good employer by people who work for us. I have been where our guys are. There are people in the business who have never worked offshore and don’t know what it’s like to be on a platform on Christmas Day. We do – and it matters that we do.”

EPIC International personnel all go through extensive EPIC competency programmes for consistent quality of work, safety and environmentally sound procedures and these are constantly updated taking into account any new legislation or industry best practice

“We are always looking at how we can do things better, for instance, we’re about to install a new management system to streamline our procedures and make us even more efficient, thus enabling us to meet the ever changing and challenging nature of our business,” said Dave.

“The past 15 years have been an exciting and ,at times, frustrating period but all at EPIC are looking forward to the next 15 years in what is a very challenging and dynamic industry.”