The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Coast to create 20 jobs with EDF deal
Dundee-based Coast Renewable Services has won a major contract with energy giant EDF which will lead to 20 more staff being hired this year.
Coast will help service and maintain EDF’s wind turbines in the UK for the next three years.
Managing director Mark Robson said the Port of Dundee company’s workforce would rise from 40 to 60 staff this year.
He said: “It’s been hard work getting the contract over the line and we’re delighted.
“It shows that Coast’s reputation in the industry is growing and it demonstrates to other operations and maintenance companies what we are capable of.”
Coast remained busy with work last year, building four wind farm sites for Vestas.
The company has also secured a turn-key project in Wales to supply cranes, staff and management of a six-turbine wind farm.
Its pipeline of work also includes erecting and commissioning turbines in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Sweden and Finland.
The company’s major projects have been onshore, but it is keen to break into the offshore sector, with projects such as Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) and Seagreen on the horizon.
The NnG turbines will be assembled at the Port of Dundee, while Seagreen’s operations base is at Montrose.
Mr Robson said staff numbers would rise further if it wins some of the work that is coming to Tayside.
“It was only a matter of time before Dundee got a little bit lucky in the renewables sector,” he said.
“You can see all the work that’s happening at the Port of Dundee in preparation for NnG. SSE Renewables has created work from Carnoustie to Tealing’s new super sub-station with installation of the Seagreen Wind Farm’s high voltage cables.
“I think Dundee should have a good feeling about it.
“There are big opportunities for local businesses and I visualise a rise in employment within the city.
“With the offshore sites on the horizon, we will look to expand significantly over the next few years.
“Since starting Coast in 2012, I always said to myself that I wouldn’t grow too quick, too fast.
“We’ve slowly grown over the last few years and we’ll continue to increase in size whilst providing highquality service to our customers.”
Coast has entered into a partnership with Dundee & Angus College to deliver training for the wind turbine sector.
The organisations are hoping to help develop a workforce that will be required for several major upcoming renewables projects.
D&A College will offer the Global Wind Organisations (GWO) basic technical training course, which is designed to increase the number of skilled technicians.
Meanwhile, Coast Renewables will provide the GWO basic safety training qualification.
This will cover fire awareness, first aid, working at heights and manual handling – all training requirements mandatory for commencing work within a wind turbine generator.
“The project with D&A College has been delayed slightly due to the pandemic,” Mr Robson added.
“It will be based at Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc.
“It has been difficult to recruit the talent locally because there aren’t a lot of trained wind technicians in Dundee or surrounding areas.
“The training will help to give local people more jobs.”
Coast recruitment director Carolyn McLaren said: “Enhancing local opportunities within Dundee is something we aspire to achieve, and the training academy gives us the opportunity to do this.”
Engine-maker RollsRoyce has plummeted to a mammoth £4 billion annual loss after a “severe” hit from the pandemic as the crisis hammered the global aviation industry.
The group’s eyewatering loss for last year was worse than expected and compares with underlying pre-tax profits of £583 million in 2019.
On a statutory basis, Rolls reported pre-tax losses of £2.9bn against losses of £891m in 2019.
Rolls said there had been a “severe impact of Covid-19 pandemic on group performance and near-term outlook”.
But the group stood by its forecast for cash outflow to improve this year.
Its cash outflow stood at £4.2bn in 2020, but Rolls forecast this would improve this year to an outflow of around £2bn and is set to turn positive at some stage during the second half.
The group said it had taken swift action to slash costs by an extra £1bn amid aims to save a total of £1.3bn by 2022, including 7,000 job losses in 2020.
A total of 9,000 job cuts are expected in total under the programme, with around two-thirds going in the UK.
It has also raised £7.3bn to survive the pandemic through tapping up shareholders and borrowing from the Bank of England, with plans to raise at least £2bn from selling off some parts of the business.