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OBAN firm North West Marine is to spend around £2.5million on a new boat to secure work on the lucrative offshore renewables industry.
The news comes as the company, based at Glengallan Road, announces it has purchased a new Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) at a cost of around £160,000, with support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, to increase the type and number of contracts it can secure.
The ROV will also allow them to complete diving jobs more quickly, as robots don’t need to come up for air or a rest.
The sub-sea civil-engineering company hope that the new ROV – and later the new diving vessel - will lead to an extended period of growth for the company and create a number of new jobs for Oban.
The good news comes just weeks after North West Marine increased its work force from eight to ten, to help meet demand.
Managing director and founder of North West Marine Tony Ratcliffe said: ‘Our turnover has increased in five of the last eight years and last year we turned over £1.5million. We want to keep that growth going.
‘The ROV will make diving contracts quicker and will increase the speed at which we can complete jobs.
‘That will hopefully mean more jobs and bigger contracts.
‘We are now looking at spending between £2-2.5million on a new 25-30m diving vessel sometime in the near future.’
Tony, who first set up the company in Tobermory 20 years ago, added that the new diving boat is not dependent on the proposed Argyll Array getting the go-ahead, with contracts available elsewhere.
Business services manager, Steve Clarkson, said: ‘Part of the stability and growth we’ve been able to achieve is down to the diversity of work we do and the people we work with. It’s key to the business.’
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