Safety systems specialist expands in Scotland

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Nov 26, 2002

Fire and gas safety systems specialist ICS Triplex has relocated its Aberdeen office to new premises and expanded staffing levels to service growing business activities.

Fire and gas safety systems specialist ICS Triplex has relocated its Aberdeen office to new premises in the Cults Business Park and expanded staffing levels to service growing business activities in the region's on- and offshore petrochemicals industry.

Kit Hall has joined the company from Thorn Security Marine and Offshore as Regional Manager with a remit to develop all areas of the business.

"We are seeing growth on all fronts, from customer care with long-time users of our equipment to quotes and installations for greenfield sites", he says.

"In between these two extremes are any number of projects to service and maintain existing installations, to manage upgrades, modernisations and expansions, and to offer full support to our discerning customers".

ICS Triplex has been operating in the Aberdeen area for over 30 years, designing, installing and maintaining fault tolerant electronic control systems for the protection and operation of high-risk plant both onshore and offshore.

There are something over 100 ICS Triplex systems protecting people and plant in North East Scotland and its associated offshore oil and gas fields.

Many of the older installations are now converting to Trusted, ICS Triplex's most recently developed range of fault tolerant technology.

Also joining the Aberdeen team are Dave Green and Rikki Burns.

Service Account Manager Burns is already well known in the Aberdeen petrochem industry, having grown up in the area and spent most of his career in oil and gas engineering.

Green has moved back to his native Scotland after ten years in ICS Triplex's international headquarters in Malden Essex, to take up the role of Customer Care Engineer.

A local presence is vital to success in Aberdeen, thinks Hall.

"Its true that nowhere is more than a phone call away, but for real customer service you have got to be able to get a well-qualified engineer to your clients' site at the drop of a hat if the need arises.

And in the far north of Scotland that means having a fully staffed office in the heart of the region".

Maintaining the ability to be instantly supportive to client requests and needs is a highly visible part of Hall's work, but equally important is the long-term strategic development of the business.

"The immediate demands are exciting: you never know what will happen next time the phone rings.

We could be sending an engineer for the next helicopter out to a storm tossed rig, or reaching for the laptop to do some rough calculations in preparation for a new design project.

Strategically, we are developing plans for better serving the users' specific current needs and also meeting constantly changing requirements.

Scotland's petrochem industry is undergoing a fundamental transition from one phase of its development to the next and we are committed to being ahead of this curve so that we are able to best serve the customers".

One of the most important innovations has been to convert ICS Scotland from an autonomous business to an integral part of Head Office's Customer Care Division.

This has streamlined communications, so that full support can be brought on stream quickly and efficiently when it is needed.

"We have to be able to respond on two levels - rapidly but also with strength in depth.

Our new office and structure allows us to meet both requirements".