A major Aberdeen employer that produces cutting-edge inflatable survival equipment, is adding an additional factory.
Survitec manufactures everything from life rafts and jackets to evacuation systems.
The company employs 250 people in Aberdeen city and shire with a further 100 staff in Peterhead.
Survitec is moving into additional premises at Badentoy Avenue in Portlethen this week.
The company will transfer its life raft, life jacket, and immersion suit service station to the new 3,000 square metre site from its facility in Findon, which will continue to operate. It also has premises at Whitemyres Avenue in Aberdeen.
Survitec says the move solidifies its long-term commitment to the north-east.
Survitec’s Portlethen expansion
Ronnie Vettese, Survitec Group’s managing director for Marine UK division, called the investment “significant” and emphasized the importance of Aberdeen to the company’s growth.
“A vast range of things come out of our Aberdeen sector and we have outgrown the facilities at Findon,” he said. “We are still expanding as a group.
“We make things to protect people’s lives, a lot of that work involves our offshore engineers who do all the certification, testing, installations and anything else that’s required.
“As a group we put a lot of effort into research and manufacturing for the supply of safety equipment, 90% of which we don’t want people to use.
“But people have to have the confidence that when they go to use it, it will operate.”
The service station was previously housed at Survitec’s sprawling Findon site, located just down the coast. Now, Findon will focus on the company’s growing lifeboat division.
The expansion will create four new jobs.
Mr Vettese says this aligns with Survitec’s future growth plans in the region, with a focus on marine safety equipment and HSEQ media for the world’s key aviation, energy and marine markets.
Millions invested in Seahaven
In addition to its ongoing success in the offshore oil and gas sector, Survitec is broadening its horizons.
The company has secured contracts with a suite of Scotland’s ferry services and invested tens of millions of pounds in research and development into the world’s largest inflatable lifeboat, capable of carrying over 1,000 passengers and crew.
“We have moved with the market,” said Mr Vettese. “You’ve got to look at the future and of course the future is looking quite grim when it comes to anything carbon related.
“So, we need to adjust and we are doing that as a company. We’ve got to start that now rather than wait.
“If you take our Findon operations as a business unit, 100% of the business was offshore, but we have now moved some of that across to the marine market.”
Mr Vettese said Survitec and its teams exist to help protect lives.
“That’s what we do and it’s a great thing to be involved in,” he said. “It’s very important for us to be in Aberdeen.
“We have invested a lot in the Aberdeen market, we have been here a long, long time and the people here have confidence in us, our team and our products.”
Survitec is the world’s largest survival technology solutions provider, with eight manufacturing facilities and 3,000 team members worldwide.
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