ESR Technology

Source: Exec Digital UK

Date :03/01/2008 17:22:47

When AEA Technology restructured its operations in 2005, it divested its engineering, risk and safety management operation to form ESR Technology

Written by Lucy Mowatt and Produced by Rahim Ali

In 2005 ESR Technology became an independent company, focused on offering a consultancy service to organisations seeking engineering, risk management and health and safety solutions, “from blue skies ideas to decommissioning,” Don Macinnes, the company COO says. Since then, it has had to establish its place in the market and raise awareness of the consultancy services that it offers.

Adrian Lambert, ESR Technology’s Marketing Manager was keen to explain the processes that have been put in place to help establish the brand and how this has affected the business.

He says that the company was a new name in the industry and mainly relied upon the customers that it had acquired from AEA Technology. “I joined the company in September 2006,” he says. “My job was to build the brand and raise awareness in the marketplace about how we can help solve organisations’ technical problems. The first step was research.

We conducted a questionnaire amongst our staff and asked a broad range of questions to establish what they thought ESR was all about. We also carried out extensive research amongst our customer base and asked them what they thought of ESR’s core business and what our strengths and weaknesses were.

From these findings we were able to establish what ESR’s values are, what our positioning strategy should be and how we should set about promoting ourselves to the marketplace.” From there, ESR sought the help of a marketing agency in Manchester, who completely rebranded the business, “everything from our stationery and exhibition banners to our website and marketing collateral,” Mr Lambert says.

Since then, the company has pursued a proactive marketing strategy and invested significantly in trade fairs, public relations and online advertising amongst other activities. Mr Lambert says that the company is now being approached by companies all over the world seeking the advice of ESR Technology’s specialist consultants. “We are receiving in the region of 15 new sales enquiries every month now. Before we rebranded the company and rolled out a strategic marketing programme, we were receiving just a handful of new sales leads every few months.”

Group dynamics

This marketing campaign has been funded in part by investment from the private equity company Coller Capital, who acquired ESR Technology. Don Macinnes explains, “Coller specialise in buying what are called secondary businesses, which are not core to a company.

This means that they are not being invested in. Coller buys them, invests in them, develops them and sells them. We definitely benefit from being invested in.”

This acquisition has also had other advantages for ESR. The business has expanded significantly in the Middle East; it now has an office in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi, in addition to those in Aberdeen, Warrington and Oxfordshire. The population in Dubai looks set to double in the next 10 years and ESR plan to capitalise on the increased investments in infrastructure that will be made in the region.

By having these local offices, the company can take advantage of local expertise and employees. “We have ex-pats in those offices on a prolonged secondment,” Don Macinnes says. “We also have people on a short secondment as well as local people.” He explains that this is because there are different laws in different markets. “Say, for example, you’re in the UK, working in the safety environment.

You have to be aware that there is a government regulator, and that regulator has the power to shut down installations that it deems to be unsafe. When you’re developing a safety case you have to meet the needs of that regulator.

If you’re working in the Middle East there is no government regulator, but that doesn’t mean it’s a free for all.” He says that companies want to operate in a professional way, especially because the oil majors who invest in them do not want to receive any negative press. This alters the criteria that companies have to meet in subtle ways and the standards they have to meet.

There are currently 120 people employed by ESR Technology, and Don Macinnes explains that there are three key factors to employee satisfaction. He says, “I think there is a trinity; make sure people feel valued, that they are reasonably rewarded and that the work is interesting.” This approach is clearly valued; the company receives at least 10 CVs from potential employees a week and takes on a growing number of graduates.

Advanced software

Safety is essential across all industries. Not only does ESR offer a consultancy service, but it also offers a range of computer programs to help with these processes.

Mr Macinnes explains that many companies, especially those in the oil and gas industry, operate in hazardous circumstances. As such, these businesses develop safety cases and guidelines. “Companies need to have a safety case which is relevant to a wide range of people.

Typically companies used safety cases that were a big pile of paper in the past, and a number of people needed access to that or even to alter and update it. That was often complex and unreliable. If you can easily gain access to the safety case electronically then it’s more effective. That’s what SIRIUS does,” Mr Macinnes explains. The SIRIUS program has been developed by ESR Technology and offers customers a way to maintain their standards and ways of working.

It also acquires software from other companies which can be adapted and implemented by ESR’s customers. At the moment the company has developed a system called AXSYS.Integrity. This software is able to predict corrosion patterns in installations.

In an oil refinery, there can be 40 types of rust. “Some of these rusts can be particularly pernicious and hard to find, and that’s one of the reasons why petrochemical plants blow up,” Don Macinnes says. “Our software can predict where the different types of rust will occur so that plant owners can go and have a look at their sites.”

Service provider

ESR provides advice to installations regarding improved efficiency of manufacturing and how to make the most of its assets. Reliability is an important part of that, to ensure that no time is lost through poorly functioning machinery and malfunction. “An oil platform will be pumping oil to shore, and it will be doing that 85 percent of the time because things will go wrong; pumps will fail and that type of thing.

Reliability is about increasing that 85 percent to 90 percent, which is big money, and we can help with that,” Don Macinnes elaborates. ESR Technology is able to offer its expertise to companies so that they can get the best of their machines and a return on their investments in the best possible way. The company can be involved in all types of projects, ensuring that customers make the most of their business potential.

ESR can also offer advice in legal cases, acting as an “expert witness”. This often happens following an industrial accident, which is followed by proceedings to find out who is responsible. ESR Technology can be called in by either prosecution or defence to find out what led to the accident, how the parties involved may be liable for responsibility and generally assess the situation from an impartial view point.

Going forward, ESR Technology plans to continue with its expansion by focusing on the European and the Middle Eastern markets and by recruiting high calibre technical consultants. It’s a clear and bold strategy that is already working as ESR goes from strength to strength.