A GATESHEAD engineering business is expanding and recruiting in response to further growth in global subsea markets.

Manufacturing, assembly and testing specialist Express Engineering has been enjoying buoyant growth during the last 18 months and is now recruiting to meet further expansion, primarily in the oil and gas sector.

With buoyant oil and gas prices and optimistic five-year forecasts from energy specialists like Westwood, Express Engineering is already seeing a strong upturn in sales for its key products as well as in components for the defence industry.

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Since embarking on a refocused business strategy, Express Engineering has seen sales in the oil and gas sector grow significantly resulting in a jump in revenues from £20m in 2019 to an expected £38m this year, forecast to rise to £45m in 2023.

Market intelligence shows a positive outlook for subsea ‘tree’ awards for the next few years, placing Express Engineering in a key position with customers in the subsea equipment sector. Outsourcing and supply chain management will also be an integral part of the accelerated growth strategy.

Last year Express Engineering invested in a 48,000 sq. ft. purpose-built assembly and test centre to contribute to the company’s continued development in key global markets and improve the level of support provided to customers. Expansion of its capabilities is part of Express Engineering’s broader product strategy to supply assembled and tested actuators, connections and tooling for wellheads and subsea production systems for the oil and gas sector.

During the next few months Express Engineering aims to recruit around 25 CNC programmers, bolstering its 220-strong workforce based across several sites on Team Valley.

Chris Thompson, chairman of Express Engineering said: “The subsea sector is in a really strong position for the next five years. We have a healthy order book for 2022/3 and anticipate significant market sector growth in the next few years.

“Our new assembly and test facility, positions us strongly for further expansion and success. The additional capacity will significantly enhance our response times and operational performance and productivity while maintaining the highest standards of safety and reliability.”

Securing more skilled engineers is now the key to maintaining growth, he said.

“We’re able to offer exceptional rates of pay along with fantastic benefits and the opportunity for training and career advancement.

“Our renewed focus around the subsea oil and gas sector in recent years and the gradual energy transition has been key to our success. We’re well placed to take advantage of increasing enquiry activity and order levels in a buoyant oil and gas sector. Based on current projections we see no reason why we cannot reach record revenues in two years time.”

Express Engineering has become a global supply specialist for actuator assemblies, connection systems and tooling for wellheads, drilling and subsea tree structures. The company is also getting involved in subsea carbon capture projects.

Working with customers like TechnipFMC, Baker Hughes and Aker Solutions, Express Engineering is a significant exporter of products, operating within various geographical areas, including the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, east coast of Brazil, east and west coasts of Africa, Malaysia and Australasia.

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