Bank Deal Helps Global Marine Company Set Sail For New Markets
An Edinburgh-based marine hire company has completed a seven figure finance deal with Clydesdale Bank which will see it increase its presence in the expanding renewable energy sector.
MarineCo UK has been trading for the last 15 years, and was originally established as commercial marine and air conditioning contractor by husband and wife team Mike and Kaye Conafray. The company has now finalised a £9.5m funding package with Clydesdale Bank which has seen it move from its former bank, and purchase new Damen vessels.
Managing Director Mike is a qualified Tug master and has been involved with commercial vessels & tugs since 1976. When he set up MarineCo it was his dream to evolve the company into the marine workboat hire sector – and in less than six months Mike’s hope had been realised when he won a contract to run crew boats and supply riggers to the semi-submersible accommodation and service rig Polyconcord in the River Forth. Contracts with Global names including Balfour Beatty, Edmund Nutall and Van Oord soon followed.
“We realised that in order to steadily grow the company we needed to make sure that alongside the workboat hire, we should buy, refurbish and sell-on workboats,” said Mike.
“By doing this we were able to push MarineCo’s operational reach and expand across the globe, and because we reinvested the profits back into the company and bolstered our fleet of vessels we were in a position to be able to service bigger, more long term contracts.”
It was a strategy that paid off for Mike and has seen MarineCo increase its average annual turnover by more than 13-fold in the 15 years the company’s been trading, and the company now supplies specialist support vessels for the international dredging, renewable and marine construction industries.
Alongside Mike, his wife Kaye (Financial Director) and Keith Cluness (Operations Director) help steer the company, which employs around 45 people from its headquarters on the outskirts of Edinburgh. The Capital might be where the company is based, but MarineCo has worked on projects across the world including Dubai’s World Island and a beach replenishment contract in Cancun, and right now MarineCo vessels and crew are working in Abu Dhabi, Nigeria, Kuwait and France.
“When we moved from RBS to Clydesdale we took additional funding to buy two new Damen vessels – a Shoalbuster 2509, and a High Speed Support Vessel that will bring our fleet up to nine vessels,” continued Mike.
These purchases – and the High Speed Support Vessels (HSSV) in particular – will help MarineCo increase its presence in the expanding renewables industry.
“The Damen HSSV is a Twin Axe Catamaran, it’s particularly suited for the offshore wind industry, and we were the first company in the world to put in an order for one. The funding and support that we’ve received from the bank has allowed us to invest in the company’s future growth and continue to provide dedicated marine support to our clients.”
Euan Tait, Director of Corporate Banking at Clydesdale Bank who worked closely with MarineCo to finalise the funding package added:
“Mike and Kaye have a clear focus on what they want MarineCo to achieve and how they can reach these goals. There is obvious strength in the whole management team, which has shone through in their dedication to making the company profitable in a challenging economic environment.
“I’m delighted that MarineCo’s chosen Clydesdale Bank as their banking partner and look forward to supporting the businesses future growth ambitions.”