W I R E L I N E
- I S S U E 2 9 A U T U M N 2 0 1 4
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GE’s Broadfold Road and Brent Avenue sites in Aberdeen
are primarily responsible for manufacturing subsea
production trees and components such as master valve
blocks (MVBs), before the equipment is installed across
projects in the North Sea and worldwide.
© General Electric 2014 – All Rights Reserved
Savouring offshore life
A school project first whetted Dominic Symonds’ appetite for working in the
oil and gas industry. Today, he’s a chef manager on the Buchan platform in the
central North Sea and he relishes his role at the very centre of installation life.
Wireline
caught up with him to find out more.
“24
-hours a day, seven days a
week” – co-ordinating a
service of this magnitude
can be challenging. Good thing chef
manager Dominic Symonds thrives on
offshore life.
As chef manager on Talisman Sinopec
Energy UK’s Buchan platform in the
central North Sea, Dominic heads up a
six-strong team employed by contractor
Sodexo Remote Sites. They run a 24-hour
operation, taking care of all catering,
laundry, cleaning and handyman duties for
a platform crew that typically numbers just
over 80. There are always team members
on duty and the kitchen is never closed.
For Dominic it’s an enjoyable way of life
because it is not about a client-customer
relationship. He says: “Working offshore
is like a family – that’s the only way I can
describe it.
“When you go onto an installation or
rig, you become part of that family.
We all look after each other;
from the offshore installation manager
through to the catering team, there’s
no difference.”
Working o fshore as a chef manager on th Buchan platfo m
combines Dominic Symonds’ passion or food with a lifelong
fascinati for the offsh re oil and gas industry d ting back
to his school days. He believes working off hore has given
him life experience at he wouldn’t have got from any other
car er, making him feel rewarded and fulfilled
CHEF MANAGER
PROFILE
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