WHILE experts warn the crude price could remain under pressure for years an oil services entrepreneur provides a reminder that the industry has recovered successfully from past downturns.

Name:

Bill Hogarty.

Age:

58.

What is your business called?

Oteac Ltd, although we have just acquired HVAC+R Ltd in a £10.25 million deal.

Where is it based?

We have our headquarters in Aberdeen with a marine office in Leith, Edinburgh and operate in oil and gas regions throughout the world including the Caspian Region and Africa.

What services does it offer?

Oteac is a fire protection engineering services company offering design, installation and commissioning services for everything from a helideck firefighting system through to a kitchen (galley) fire suppression system or a breathing apparatus set, supported by service and spares for the aftermarket.

HVAC+R offer a similar scope, including manufacturing, with regard to heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration.

Whom does it sell to?

Both businesses target the oil and gas, drilling and marine markets. Oteac also supports industry, commerce, the public service sector and whisky distilling.

What is its turnover?

The combined turnover of the two businesses is just over £23.5m.

How many employees?

190.

When was it formed?

Oteac has been established for over 30 years and HVAC+R for just over 15.

Why did you take the plunge?

I had spent all of my life in fire safety engineering and the opportunity came along to work with my friend and work colleague Sandy Brown who was then managing director and later became chairman.

I had known Sandy as a friend and work colleague for around 30 years and he was keen to develop the business from him leading it as an entrepreneur to putting a new strategy and business model in place.

In the six years I have been with Oteac we have grown fourfold in terms of our underlying earnings and the first four of these were with Sandy as majority and myself as minority shareholder.

What were you doing before you took the plunge?

Working for large corporate entities within fire safety engineering, many of whom we still deal with.

How did you raise the start-up funding?

We are backed by Lonsdale Capital Partners, which deals with a suite of private equity investors supported by bank funding from Royal Bank of Scotland.

Lonsdale Capital Partners acquired a controlling interest in October 2013 utilising private equity finding and a bank loan via RBS. I transferred from the role of managing director to chief executive as part of this process and Sandy operated as a consultant to the company and sits on the board. Both Sandy and I ‘rolled over’ a significant investment in the new entity from the proceeds of that sale.

When the investment was made the oil price was $110 for the benchmark Brent Crude. Just now it is less than $60. However, we view the oil and gas business as being cyclical and in my 37 years in the industry I have been through four recessionary periods where the oil price has dropped significantly.

Whilst the analysts say that we have to get used to this for the next 18 months or so, we have confidence in the market longer term, demonstrated by our acquisition of HVAC+R, which operates almost exclusively in the oil and gas sector. There are great opportunities for us to present our client with a collective offering on international markets, offering added value by, for example, sending out one multi-disciplined team or receiving one purchase order for all our services.

What was your biggest break?

Coming to Aberdeen on holiday after I graduated and deciding I wanted to stay. I subsequently joined Grampian Fire Brigade as a fireman and that was my route into fire engineering.

I was in the fire service for around two years, 1980 to 1982, and attended a number of large fires ranging from the nurses’ home at the hospital to the Tivoli bingo Hall.

When you are in the midst of an inferno the training you have received needs to be put into practice in a disciplined fashion and you need to rely on the trust of your colleagues both inside and outside the building.

With modern fire detection, which Oteac design, supply and install, there are fewer fires but the same principle applies that disciplined teamwork and good organisation and practice and needed the day that you require them.

What was your worst moment?

The disaster on the Piper Alpha offshore platform in 1988 –I can still recall that night when I was called out personally to supply fire and safety equipment to try and mitigate the impact of the fire, but it unfortunately transpired that this was a futile exercise.

I worked as sales director for Wood Group Fire Protection at the time, the company which faced the largest number of fatalities from the disaster. My role was to co-ordinate our activities onshore and acted as a key focal point for most of the oil companies.

It brought home the harsh reality of working in a high risk environment and gave me a genuine passion to try and do my best in business to make it as safe as possible.

What do you most enjoy about running the business?

I like the responsibility and dynamic of the business – a service engineering environment is forever changing and that is a constant challenge. I keep a day book and there are days when I think I should rip the page out of the book, usually by about quarter past nine in the morning! I also like seeing people develop their skill set and progress.

What do you least enjoy?

Failing. I always try to do my best and be successful in everything I attempt to do – whether on a personal note or in business. Personal pride is a big driver for me for both helping my family and being successful in business.

What are your ambitions for the firm?

To be a successful, profitable global player in our specialist engineering disciplines.

What are your five top priorities?

To look after my wife Cathy and my three ‘kids’ Paul, Emma and Angela; to enjoy a wholesome life and be caring to my friends; to successfully build an international service engineering group of companies; to continue to develop the skill set and competence of staff in order that they can fulfil their personal development potential; to help others less fortunate than myself by participating in charity fundraising activities – in the last few months I have completed the 110Km ‘King of the Mountains’ charity cycle and also the 26 mile ‘Kiltwalk’, the funds raised benefiting children with serious illness.

What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?

I actually think both Governments do a reasonable job. They have to strike a balance between revenue raised from taxes and supporting the industry.

Government agencies also do a decent job in providing market information and grants to develop business internationally.

They could improve stability of the taxation regime so the oil industry knows where it stands and for how long. Windfall taxes have impaired this stability, albeit they have been introduced when the market was buoyant.

What was the most valuable lesson that you learned?

The determination to succeed. Whether you think you can or you think you can’t – you’re probably right.

How do you relax?

I like watching football and tennis now that I am too old to play! I enjoy socialising with my wife Cathy and family and friends and on the more active front cycling and skiing.