In our latest Partner Profile feature, we chat to Paul Livingstone, Head of Business Development at NOF, to find out more about the help and support the organisation offers regional businesses and what it is hoping to get from EMCON 2O19.
Tell us more about NOF.
NOF is a business development organisation helping to make valuable connections between businesses in the global energy sector. We work on behalf of our members and our network of partners to put companies of all sizes in touch with the best and most innovative supply chain businesses in the UK. If you fully engage with us, and work with us, there’s no better investment you can make in your business.
You support businesses across the region don’t you. What sort of help and assistance do you offer?
NOF is based in the North East of England but actually support member businesses based in locations right across the UK . We offer business development support services, facilitate strategic introductions and organise events and conferences for members and the wider energy supply chain.
How is the offshore sector currently performing?
NOF is actively involved in both the Offshore Oil & Gas and Offshore Wind sectors. Irrespective of what people say, oil and gas will be with us for decades to come and there are still opportunities, the Americas – the Gulf of Mexico, for example – as well as in the UK, Middle East and Africa.”
In offshore wind the UK has built up world- leading expertise, which is presenting burgeoning international scope for North East and UK-based companies working in the sector. Earlier this year the UK energy department BEIS launched the offshore wind sector deal that will serve as the roadmap for a 30GW by 2030 installed capacity target. The joint government-industry blueprint consists of price support commitments and supply chain investment plus heightened ambitions for local content, exports and job creation over the next decade.
Again, opportunities in the Americas – with a big appetite for wind power on the Eastern Seaboard while on the West Coast of America conditions are ripe for developing deep-water offshore wind capability. Key territories in Asia, including Taiwan (NOF took a delegation of 35 UK offshore wind companies to the fast-emerging country in 2017), Japan and China, while reporting that Europe remains a hotbed of opportunity, including Denmark and Poland.
UK energy supply chain companies that are agile and can adapt quickly to changing energy trends will be better equipped to take advantage of the growing opportunities.
You’re a partner at this year’s EMCON aren’t you. What are you hoping to get from the event?
We are delighted to be partnering with the EMN at this years EMCON, a number of NOF members are exhibiting or visiting the event this year so EMCON will provide an ideal opportunity for us to engage with them. We are also looking forward to the networking opportunities and engaging with supply chain companies from other sectors.
How do you think the offshore sector will deal with BREXIT?
Brexit will certainly affect the offshore industry, however, out of uncertainty you can find opportunity. As NOF, we must stay one step ahead of what is happening in the energy industry.
“Our job is – and will continue to be – to identify the opportunities in the energy sector, make sure that we find the most appropriate way of bringing them to the attention of our members, and deliver our services so that they can secure a share of these opportunities.”
