Offshore accommodation and workspace specialists HB Rentals has officially opened its new eastern hemisphere headquarters in the North East of Scotland.
The purpose built £1 million facility, located in Sauchen, was officially opened by the Provost of Aberdeenshire, Councillor Jill Webster, in a ceremony attended by HB Rentals’ clients, suppliers, employees and senior management.
Provost Webster said: “HB Rentals' new facility represents a significant investment in Aberdeenshire and we welcome this boost to the local economy through employment opportunities and increased business activity in the area.
The facility is ideally located at the centre of the North East oil and gas industry in Aberdeenshire benefitting from being located in an area consistently judged to have the highest quality of life in Scotland as well as being an ideal base for HB's international growth plans."
With over 500sqm of covered workshop area and employing a multi-disciplined workforce of around 46 people, the new premises will handle all manufacturing for the company’s eastern hemisphere and allow it to build and consolidate the fleet of A60 accommodation units it currently supplies as well as handling any custom build projects the firm receives.
The base is seen as crucial to HB Rentals’ ambitious growth targets for its key operations in the region which include Europe, West Africa, the Caspian and Middle East.
Eastern hemisphere business unit director Norman Porter said: “The opening of this new purpose-built facility places us in the ideal position to capitalise on business opportunities in an increasingly competitive market and will allow us to fulfill our ambitious growth targets. The North East of Scotland remains one of the world’s major energy centres and these facilities will allow us to better fulfill our customer’s orders in this region as well as the rest of the eastern hemisphere with the provision of offshore accommodation and workspace solutions.”
The official opening comes after a period of sustained success for the company, which has won several contracts recently.
Sales and marketing manager for the eastern hemisphere Brad Hirst added: “It has been an exciting time for the company recently with several large projects on-going. Increasingly customers are coming to us requiring custom built or tailored accommodation solutions and the investment in these facilities will mean we are able to offer the full range of services needed to fulfill their requirements and deliver projects to exact specification, on time and within budget. ”
The move to the new premises comes five years after the company first began operating in the North East of Scotland.
HB Rentals operates a fleet of more than 400 A60 units comprising a wide variety of 2 to 12 man accommodation cabins, galleys, laundry, recreation and mess rooms, gymnasiums, heliports, offices, laboratories, MWD, mudlogging and well-support cabins as well as other custom fit-outs as specified by its worldwide customer base.
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