Offshore success provides boost
Published: 19 December, 2018
Sparrows Group says it has seen its position in the renewables market strengthened one year on from the acquisition of Alpha Offshore Service. The company confirmed that Danish-based Alpha’s revenue has increased by 46% in the past 12 months.
Alpha specialises in the delivery of technical personnel, maintenance, repair and inspection services to offshore and onshore wind energy projects. In September, the company celebrated the successful completion of more than 4,000 wind turbine blade inspections to date, a 56% upsurge compared to 2017.
Since Sparrows acquired the firm in December 2017, Alpha has seen its international offering grow to support clients in new geographic areas including Australia and Asia Pacific. The expansion of its global operations has also resulted in a 25% increase in their workforce of highly trained technicians, strengthening its competitiveness and capabilities.
Stewart Mitchell, chief executive officer of Sparrows Group said: “Alpha has been a valuable addition to the Group and has boosted our footprint in the renewables market. The acquisition has been welcomed by Sparrows employees and provided our people with the opportunity to diversify their skills and knowledge.
“The Alpha team has integrated well, primarily because of our shared values and commitment to safety and quality. Joining forces so successfully has led to Sparrows exploring further acquisition opportunities in the renewable sector to add to our portfolio.
“Alpha has an unrivalled reputation in the industry and this is in no small part down to its highly skilled and experienced technicians whose expertise are ideally placed to support the world’s ageing wind turbines which require proactive maintenance and repair activity. Their specialist in-depth knowledge and expertise of in-demand services, such as blade inspection and repairs, has made them vital to our group.”
Mikkel Lund, chief executive officer at Alpha said: “Our operations have rapidly expanded in the 12 months since our acquisition and Sparrows’ support has been fundamental to this.
“Moving forward, our biggest challenge is ensuring we can continue to recruit and train talent that is a strong fit for our business. Ensuring the competence of our technicians is vital to our success and Sparrows has been instrumental in supporting this objective.”
Sparrows Group has been active in the oil and gas sector for more than 40 years. Following a robust diversification strategy in the past few years, the business has seen its reputation grow further in the renewables sector.
In 2017, the company secured its largest renewable contract to date after being awarded a project to supply 102 of its WindMaster cranes for installation at ScottishPower Renewables’ 714 megawatt East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm.
In 2018, Alpha was awarded a contract for blade repair activity on the Offshore Windfarm Edmond aan Zee (OWEZ), a joint venture between utililty company Nuon and Shell in the Dutch sector of the North Sea.
