LOC Strengthens Customer Support

New offices opened in Newcastle (UK) and Leeuwarden (Netherlands).

LOC (London Offshore Consultants) opened two new offices to strengthen its service delivery in the North Sea region. Complementing existing LOC hubs in London, Aberdeen and Stavanger, the new offices – both opened on the same day (March, 14) – are located in Newcastle, U.K. and Leeuwarden, Netherlands. Both offices will deliver a range of services to the local customer base including marine engineering, naval architecture, civil engineering, renewable and mariner-related services.

Peter Holloway, LOC’s regional director for Europe and Africa, explains why Newcastle and Leeuwarden were selected: “Newcastle, located between current offices in Aberdeen and London, is a thriving maritime hub boasting significant P&I, legal and other facilities. Leeuwarden also has a rich maritime heritage and is ideally located for access to the major European North Sea hub ports as well as eastward to the ports in the Baltic. In today’s service-driven culture, we need to be visible on our customers’ doorstep and be immediately available to deliver assistance. The North Sea is hugely important for the oil and gas and renewable energy sectors, both of which are major drivers for our business while the Baltic Sea is developing rapidly in the renewable sector. These two new offices will allow us to serve our growing customer base more effectively.

In addition, the northeast of England is a focus for renewable manufacturing and installation. Our Newcastle office reaffirms our commitment to the region and allows us to work more closely with our local clients, while the office in the Netherlands opens up a new region for development – Continental Europe.”

The new offices are part of LOC’s global growth strategy which includes ensuring resources are located adjacent to major customer hubs.

Former master mariner and consultant, Captain Ane Heidema is leading the Dutch office, bringing oil experience as well as local and regional knowledge. LOC’s strategy is to employ locals to manage global offices where possible.

Captain Heidema said, “From our new base in Leeuwarden we are well positioned to service installations and customers in the North Sea, German Bight and the Baltic. Reaching into Germany is also relatively easy. As this office grows we will augment our current team of master mariners and marine engineers with naval architects and structural engineers – although these skills are currently available from our larger offices in the U.K. and Norway. This is our first office in northern Europe and I fully expect to see others established in the near future”

LOC intends to open five further new facilities in 2013 increasing its global network to 29 offices.