The ASTEC Group, one of the country’s leading engineering and safety consultants is making its mark in Aberdeen with a £400,000 investment in premises and people.
Renowned for its expertise in the nuclear industry, ASTEC Group last year set up its oil and gas business – ASTEC Oil & Gas. Since then, the company has won £850,000 of new business in Aberdeen and is now relocating to one of the city’s newest office developments.
Led by managing director, Derek Penny, ASTEC Oil & Gas provides safety engineering and asset integrity management consultancy with a focus on safety case reviews, safety case management, safety and risk management, decommissioning training and competence assurance.
Mr Penny says: “Technical issues around safety and asset integrity are an absolute priority for the oil and gas industry but the demand for competent personnel is outstripping supply with little new talent emerging. ASTEC Oil & Gas can plug the gap with access to experienced consultants and competence-assured solutions that deliver improved asset performance.
“The time is therefore right to be investing in our Aberdeen office from where we can access the upstream oil and gas market. Transferring our experience and dominant safety case authorship position from the nuclear industry, we can encourage adoption of cross-energy best practice to oil and gas companies and vice versa.
Mr Penny is focused on growing ASTEC Oil & Gas to become a market leader in safety and engineering consultancy services within three years.
With a physics degree from Glasgow University, followed by post-graduate qualifications in combustion engineering and an MBA from Dundee University, Mr Penny joined ASTEC with more than 20 years’ experience in both the global upstream and downstream oil and gas industries. Mr Penny has also held director and senior management positions with ’blue chip’ companies such as Shell, Tyco and ABB.
Established in 1994 in Cheshire, ASTEC Group has grown into a multi-million pound, world-wide provider of services in the general areas of engineering consultancy, safety consultancy, project management and their associated disciplines. The group specialises in placing highly qualified and experienced professional engineers with blue chip clients, particularly in the UK Nuclear industry.