New work gives Express Engineering confidence as it plans headcount growth

A flurry of new orders have buoyed Gateshead subsea fabricator Express Engineering, which has narrowed losses.

The Team Valley-based maker of pipe connection systems, actuators and tooling for oil and gas operators says its order book has swelled by £10m in the last month alone to stand at £70m's worth of work for the next 12-18 months. It comes as turnover at the 300-strong group rose nearly 50% to £33.7m last year and operating losses fell to £2.5m from £4.1m. Express said it will hit turnover of £60m in 2024/25.

Bosses at the firm, which acquired Middlesbrough's QA Weld Tech out of administration last year in a deal now revealed to be worth £800,000, say stable oil and gas prices and upbeat market forecasts about the next five years are giving them cause for optimism. That is giving rise to expansion of the workforce with fitters, assembly, test operators and CNC machinists sought for Express Engineering and welders, platers and technical support staff needed at QA Weld Tech.

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The accounts, for the year to the end of September 2023, point to demand having returned post-Covid levels but margins being slower to recover. Nevertheless, Express said the year had "laid the foundations" for future success, including investment in order to support is customers' carbon capture and electrification projects and as gas continued to be an important stepping stone in the global energy transition.

Chris Thompson, chair of Express Engineering Group said: “The subsea sector is in a strong position for the next five years. I am delighted to say our orderbook has reached record levels, the highest in our 50-year history, and it’s only expected to increase further across the remainder of 2024. With demand for product high, we hope to invest further in our capability this year, which will include a new CMM machine and a new horizontal borer to be situated in our Gateshead factories.”

He added: "Since acquiring QA Weld Tech we have integrated the business into the group and invested in new processes, shift patterns and capital equipment while also building the team in Middlesbrough. We have doubled turnover and are securing work from overseas, breaking into new international markets. The future bodes well for all our sites on Teesside and Tyneside."

Gary Thirlwell, MD of Express Engineering, said: “Our overall order book is so strong that we expect to increase our shift patterns and grow our head count even further during 2024, both in Gateshead and Middlesbrough. We are looking to take on a lot more apprentices.”