Wireline - Summer 2017

W I R E L I N E

| SUMMER

2017

2 7

developing between supply chain

companies and operators, which, in turn,

are contributing significantly to thewider

business efficiency agenda.

Q:What has surprisedyoumost over the

last 12months duringyourworkwith

theTaskforce?

I continue to be immensely impressed

with the resilience of the individuals

workingwithin the sector and of the

companies involved. Despite this being

one of the toughest downturns the

industry has seen, we are seeing the

leadership in the industry taking the

challenges full on andworking tirelessly

to resize, implement newways of

working, address cultural issues, and look

at newopportunities internationally and

in newmarkets.

I amdelighted to see the inroads that

have beenmade in the competitiveness

of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS)

and, as Oil &Gas UK’s

Business Outlook

has highlighted, the drive to improve

competitiveness through cost and

efficiency has had a significant impact on

the performance of the overall sector.

Q: Howdoyou see theworkof the

Taskforcedevelopingandevolving

this year?

A big focus for us to date has been on

delivering large-scale events to ensure

companies and individuals are aware of,

and knowhow to access, the significant

amount of support available. These have

included employment support events,

a conference on learning fromother

sectors, innovationworkshops, and

seminars on leadership, diversification

and internationalisation.

Moving forward, we aimto deliver a

deeper more targeted approach,

helping companies focus on the

short-termpriorities while, at the

same time, encouraging themto put in

place the necessary actions to ensure

sustainability and growth in the

long term.

Wewill continue to support individuals

impacted by redundancy through

PACE and the Transition Training

Fund, with Business Gateway offering

great assistance for those looking to

set up their own business. Scottish

Enterprise has also teamed upwith

Aberdeen-based Elevator to deliver a

newprogramme, GreyMatters, to bring

together professionals fromdiffering

functional backgrounds, skillsets and

experiences to help generate high growth

oil and gas companies of the future.

We are also continuing to ensure that

the actions the Taskforce identify

are not adding new initiatives to the

landscape but instead are embedded

within the activities of themany support

organisations that exist for the sector.

Q:What’s thebiggest challenge for the

Taskforce this year?

Our biggest challenge is to ensure

we keep the fantasticmomentum

we’ve created to help the industry look

forward for newopportunities, prioritise

innovation and return the supply chain

to growthwhere possible. This will help

to sustain the future of the industry in

Scotland against a backdrop of

what will continue to be a challenging

global environment.

Q: Doyou think theTaskforcewill still be

herenext year?

We knew at the beginning change

wasn’t going to happen overnight, but

after two years we’re seeing strong

progress – collaboration has improved

dramatically, efficiency savings are being

achieved, and the skills and experience

built up over the last 50 years remain

focused onmaximising economic

recovery in the North Sea, as well as on

international markets and investigating

additional opportunities in other sectors.

Through strong partnership,

collaboration, leadership and, above

all, hardwork, a significant amount of

support and help has reached thousands

of individuals and hundreds of companies.

The Taskforce has put in place the

foundations to ensure the sector remains

sustainable in the longer termand I’m

pleasedwe’re beginning to seemany of

the initiatives we’ve developed being

picked up under ‘business as usual’

by both industry, trade bodies and

government agencies. I am fortunate

to havemany senior leaders fromthe

industry around the Taskforce table and

I continue to take their counsel on the

need for the Taskforce and the role it

plays...wewill continue to be here for as

long as itsmembers feel it is needed.

Q&A | Energy Jobs Taskforce

We’ve supported over 800 companies

in areas such as innovation, leadership,

internationalisation, business resilience

and diversification.

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www.scottish-enterprise.com/ EnergyTaskforce