17 June 2014

Unrivalled level of service and customer care will lead to improved reliability, performance and safety

With North Sea investment booming at record levels; the industry predicting a 15% rise in oil and gas production through to 2018; and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander having just announced the new Aberdeen based Oil and Gas Authority to encourage economic production in the UK and provide sustainable long-term support for the industry, Quartzelec - a leading UK independent electrical engineering group with an annual turnover in excess of £60m, has just appointed Jamie Burns to the position of General Manager for its Aberdeen based business that supports the flourishing oil and gas sector, where he will be overseeing both the Rotating Machines service and repair facility and the Marine Service business across the region.

With over 20 years of sales experience at all levels, including 12 years commercial and operational experience within the industrial service business, Jamie joins Quartzelec from GE Energy Management where he had been responsible for starting its Glasgow based Service Regional Business Centre and for growing its Energy Service business for Northern Europe, building business within both power generation and renewables.

Joining Quartzelec with a vision to grow the business, Jamie said: “North Sea oil is a huge asset to Scotland, and will be for decades to come. Aberdeen is also regarded as Europe's oil capital and I’ve worked with businesses here for years and know that Quartzelec are extremely well regarded. I’m now looking to capitalise on the successes the team has already achieved by building on existing customer relationships as well as securing new customers. The safe, timely and professional installation and maintenance of electrical solutions is critical for both the oil and gas and other engineering and manufacturing businesses in the region. Quartzelec has a wealth of installation, rewinds and repair experience and can positively contribute to improving the operational activities and bottom line profitability for many companies in Scotland.”

Commenting on the appointment, Daniel Laval, Managing Director for Quartzelec added: “We undertook an extensive search to find the right person to spearhead our continued growth into the important oil and gas sector as this is a key market in our ambitious and ongoing development plans.  Jamie has a wealth of experience and numerous contacts in this sector and we’ll provide him, and the whole team based in Aberdeen with all the support we can to ensure we achieve the desired results and deliver customer requirement, on time and within budget.”

Prior roles included seven years with Avery Weigh-Tronix, the world’s second largest weighing company, where he ran the contract managers and key account teams that managed the £16M UK service contract base, successfully reversing four years of losses by growing the business despite the recession.

Over the past couple of years Quartzelec has invested heavily in people and growing its business. This includes opening a new multi-million pound fabrication facility in Rugby that also doubles as a corporate HQ plus opening several new maintenance and operational sites around the UK. Then looking at business performance Quartzelec’s rapidly expanding electrical contracting business has secured a number of significant £1m+ contracts over recent months while its maintenance business for rotating machines has secured several prestigious, mission critical contracts in the maritime, mining, and manufacturing sectors.

The recently launched Lifeview real-time monitoring solution is also proving popular with customers. Providing a real insight into internal electrical and mechanical stresses, performance and the wear and tear of rotating electrical plant Lifeview helps in planning maintenance cycles and prolonging the operational life of equipment. This often results in significant financial savings by reducing costly, unexpected equipment failure and improving safety.

Quartzelec has an annual turnover in excess of £60m and a heritage that stretches back more than 80 years with the ability to design, manufacture, repair, monitor, refurbish and rewind large, project critical motors and generators, relying on its extensive library of design drawings and a full design department. It also has a rapidly expanding electrical contracting business and has the ability to work on any OEM-manufactured machine and/or equipment, including those built by its previous heritage companies such as GEC Machines, GEC Alsthom Large Machines, ALSTOM and Cegelec.

For further details on the electrical installation services available from Quartzelec or the manufacture, refurbishment, monitoring and rewinding of electrical motors and generators, please call +44 (0) 1788 512512 or email jody.townsend@quartzelec.com