Balmoral Group boss Jim Milne has touched down in Houston to attend OTC for the 40th time.
The oil and gas industry veteran said the annual show was a great “shop window” for his firm and earned him some “exceptional contacts” over the years.
Reaching 40 trips puts Mr Milne in a very exclusive club that includes Jack Burnett of Munro’s Travel Group who notched up his 40th trip last year.
The event began life as a senior level conference in 1969 and saw Munro’s and the Press and Journal jointly sponsor the first official Scottish delegation visit in 1973 with Milne joining the annual trip a year later.
Edwin Reid, who was business development officer with the Clydesdale Bank at the time, recalls Mr Milne’s first visit.
He said: “This was Jim’s first trip to OTC and my second.
“I clearly remember myself and Jim waiting for a shuttle bus outside the Sheraton Lincoln Downtown hotel in Houston at 7am on a bright Houston morning in 1974 along with perhaps three others and Jim asking ‘Where is everyone?’. I replied ‘Jim, they won’t be back to their hotels yet. They’re probably all still partying!'”
Mr Milne said: “Since 1974 much has changed but much has stayed the same. OTC has consistently rated as the best exhibition for Balmoral year on year.
“That’s not easy for me to say with Offshore Europe on our doorstep in Aberdeen every two years.
“Exhibitions are a real shop window for a company, its products and its people. We have made some exceptional contacts at this show and I like to think it works both ways.
“We have always taken great pride in the quality of our product and are proud to demonstrate our capabilities to what is probably the best-informed audience in the offshore oil and gas world here at OTC.”
His arrival at the show yesterday was accompanied by an announcement from Balmoral that it has overhauled its ROV buoyancy production capability into a dedicated centre of excellence at its city HQ.
The £1million investment has seen the company create approximately 20 jobs spanning design, engineering and manufacturing.