‘Unique’ facility expected to thrive as word of its reopening spreads

The core team at the Underwater Trials Centre (UTC) has expanded to four after John MacLellan started as a “one-man shop” 12 months ago.

Caldive expects to double its workforce in Fort William over the coming six months.

Fort William UTC, which also hires “a minimum” of eight contractors per project, has ambitions to move the administrative side of the business from Invergordon in the future.

Mr MacLellan said: “There’s a potential that we could expand to administration in Fort William. We would like that – we’re just not there yet.

“The biggest factor for us is that industry hasn’t been aware the facility has reopened.”

Around 80% of the business currently comes from the oil and gas industry, while the remaining 20% is from the burgeoning renewables sector.

Mr MacLellan sees the amount of renewables work growing in the near term as demand for cable testing from the sector potentially meets or surpasses other work, such as oil and gas pipelines.

He added: “I think even in the next 18 months that share will double to 40 or even 50%.

“Many of the inquiries that we’re getting, although they’re subsea, they’re talking about cables for wind or tidal, rather than oil.”

Seafast ROV (a Caldive training subsidiary) is also just getting geared up, with the first course running in the next four weeks.

Before the site reopened, some companies had to ship equipment to Barcelona in order to trial their technologies.

Mr MacLellan said: “It’s such a unique testing facility in the UK. There’s nothing else that comes close because of the depth and the enclosed loch.

“We’ve done some pretty large testing for some big, big companies, including supermajors, in the past.

“All the testing we’ve done under new ownership has been successful.”