Wood Group buys assets of collapsed Aberdeen engineer

Oil and gas services giant Wood Group has snapped up the trade and assets of a fellow Aberdeen firm that fell into administration last month.

Wood Group said the deal for EESL's fabrication business would expand its range of services. Picture: Contributed

Wood said the deal for the fabrication business of Enterprise Engineering Services (EESL) would expand its range of capabilities as it seeks to drive down costs in the North Sea.

Dave Stewart, chief executive of the group’s PSN arm, said: “Wood Group’s relentless focus is on enhancing value and driving cost efficiencies in the technical solutions we provide to our clients. The acquisition of EESL’s fabrication and manufacturing business broadens our repair order capabilities, enabling us to offer a fully integrated, end-to-end service that supports our clients in assuring the integrity of their assets.”

He added: “We will leverage EESL’s more than 40 years of expertise providing manufacturing and fabrication solutions to the oil and gas sector, securing jobs for the company’s current Aberdeen fabrication workforce with a view to creating new employment opportunities as we deepen and broaden our fabrication capability in the future.”

Almost 60 staff at EESL lost their jobs after administrators from KPMG were called in last month. The firm had been trading for 50 years and worked with a large number of oil and gas and utility clients, but suffered a fall in orders amid the sustained drop in crude oil prices.

The remaining staff will be kept on at EESL’s 4,000 square foot Craigshaw Road fabrication facility in Aberdeen when they transfer over to Wood Group.

Blair Nimmo, joint administrator and KPMG’s UK head of restructuring, said: “The joint administrators are delighted to conclude a sale of EESL’s manufacturing facility and key assets in Aberdeen to Wood Group, following a successful marketing exercise.

“We were confident that the excellent market reputation and facilities attached to EESL’s manufacturing division would generate interest and we are extremely pleased to have secured a sale to a major quality company such as Wood Group.”