Sparrows Group brings drilling service success to North Sea

World Oil Staff February 27, 2023

(WO) — Sparrows Group is expanding its service roster in the North Sea as it looks to replicate its drilling services success in the Middle East and Asia. To support its remarket entry, the engineering and maintenance services specialist for the global energy and industrial sectors has appointed Sandy Main as Drilling Services Manager - Europe. Sandy brings more than 30 years’ experience in the drilling services sector and will be based at the company’s headquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Sparrows technician works on a crown block installation and final inspection on a drill rig derrick at a UAE shipyard.
Sparrows technician works on a crown block installation and final inspection on a drill rig derrick at a UAE shipyard.

Increased interest in drilling services for European market

Since introducing drilling services to its repertoire in the Middle East and Asia Pacific, Sparrows has seen increasing interest in the regions for the improved service offering and gone from strength to strength in this department, evolving its product line into a core service.

In recent years, the company has shifted its strategic focus in the UK but has identified a growing need in the market to offer customers a larger, more encompassing offering. The company works with customers on large scale, full rig reactivation projects to deliver entire scopes of complex work that envelop equipment to facilities to support the workforce.

Sparrows’ ability to diversify from a cranes, lifting support, and engineering company into a turnkey energy support company has been achieved through its detailed market observation. The company seeks to fill gaps in the market to help meet operator demand for high-quality services and offer clients a more streamlined, efficient approach to delivering projects under a single supplier.

Whilst Sparrows’ drilling services had previously been available in the UK and Europe, the company has seen increased activity and demand in this region for a bundled service, delivered by a reliable and trustworthy provider.

The company’s remarkable drilling services growth in the Middle East and Asia Pacific is a testament to its commitment to deliver the best possible services to clients, wherever in the world they operate. Sparrows plans to take this model of success back to the UK and Europe, readily pulling on its global resources of expertise and facilities.

Stewart Mitchell, CEO at Sparrows, said, “Through Sparrows’ in-house training and development programs , we are upskilling our current workforce and utilizing our pool of talent who already present the high-quality technical skills needed to deliver this service. By also adding a dual role aspect, we can give people the opportunity to work on a much wider range of equipment – and in turn, offer our customers a more streamlined service. This not only supports their career progression but also allows us to offer new avenues to Sparrows apprentices, as we continue our upward growth trajectory.”

New Drilling Service Manager to deliver large scale projects to North Sea operators

In his new role as Drilling Services Manager – Europe, Sandy Main will be responsible for the operations and technical resources of the service in the region, ensuring Sparrows can deliver large scale projects to operators across the North Sea.

Sandy explains, “With a career in drilling services spanning several decades, I am well versed in the industry and have worked on complex projects of all sizes. I’m eager to enhance this service offering in the UK and Europe and am determined to deliver projects to a high level for new and existin

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