TPi July 2018

Business & market news

EUPEC confirms successful turnaround and wins €5mn contract

process of the new EUPEC, notably during the negotiation of the job retention agreement, which enabled us to implement the necessary measures to revive the company. Together with our employees, we want to continue along this path by continuing to give priority to our customers’ expectations.” EUPEC supplies coatings for oil, gas and water pipelines for various on- and offshore applications. The company serves customers around the world from its head office in Gravelines, France. From 2009 to 2011, EUPEC supplied all concrete coating for the pipelines used in the Nordstream project. EUPEC – France www.eupec-pipecoatings.com

and pursue a labour innovation policy started in January 2017 by signing a job retention agreement in return for wage concessions, with the support and assistance of public authorities. “We are looking forward to work on this large-scale project,” said Mr Grimopont. “We have a unique industrial know-how in France that we want to preserve and develop. Our ambition is to keep up the pace of this progress to better meet the needs and requirements of our customers.” Mr Martin added, “EUPEC’s recovery and commercial revival plan received the support of our shareholder, Mutares, whose involvement was key in the transformation and re-definition

Pipe coater EUPEC has announced the signing of a €5mn contract, which the company says underlines the success of its new strategy. The newly awarded contract represents a key milestone for EUPEC’s develop- ment strategy that was initiated by its president, François Martin, and manag- ing director Damien Grimopont. With support from shareholder Mutares, EUPEC completely reviewed its strategy and business approach with regard to innovation, co-construction and partnership, based on five strategic axes: foster business opportunities; maintain relationships with existing customers; maintain the expertise of the company by keeping employees and jobs on its sites; invest in production tools;

Jobs boost as manufacturing plant opens Engineering firm FES, a supplier of fluid transfer systems to oil and gas clients around the world, has invested in a 25,000ft 2 manufacturing facility in Northumberland, UK, initially creating around 20 new jobs in the process. The plant will enable FES to bring several processes that were previously outsourced, such as fabrication and manufacturing, in-house. The expansive site will provide the firm with the additional height needed to develop new products for oil and gas fields in increasingly challenging environments. It will also serve as a base for apprenticeship schemes and other training programmes aimed at nurturing skills that are being lost to the sector as members of its ageing workforce retire. Although 90 per cent of FES’s business comes from clients outside the UK, the company’s entire supply chain is located within a 25-mile radius of its base in Ashington, Northumberland, and some processes will continue to be outsourced once the new facility is fully operational.

“This investment demonstrates our commitment to the North East [of England],” said managing director Rob Anderson. “There is the common assumption that manufacturing in Asia- Pacific is much cheaper than in the UK, but this overlooks the potentially expensive issues that come with quality and control problems. “We now have a manufacturing facility on our doorstep, making it much easier for us to ensure we continue delivering high quality products to the market. Despite the current climate, in which many businesses in our industry are closing or downsizing, we have taken the bold move to invest heavily in our long-term future.” FES International – UK fes@fesltd.co.uk www.fesinternational.com

FES technical director Ian Latimer (left) and managing director Rob Anderson

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TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL July 2018

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