News

Specialist Services Achieves ISO 29001 Certification

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As part of Centurion’s commitment to Service Quality, Specialist Services, part of Centurion Middle East & North Africa, has recently received the ISO 29001:2020 certificate from LRQA.

Specialist Services’ Quality Management System (QMS) has been certified to ISO 9001 since February 2000. In July of 2022 the Dubai-based brand achieved ISO 29001 certification – which defines the QMS requirements for the design, development, production, installation and service of products for the petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries.

This is a significant achievement that reflects Specialist Services’ stringent approach to quality management and adds value and credibility to the entire business.

The Specialist Services QMS is currently certified to ISO 9001:2015, ISO 29001:2020, ISO/IEC 80079-34:2020, ASME Section VIII Div. 1 and Div. 2 (U, U2, R), and DNV QMS for MSA.

Specialist Services Celebrating 40 Years in Business

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July 2022 marks 40 successful years in business for Centurion Middle East company Specialist Services.

This is an extraordinary achievement that demonstrates the strength of Specialist Services, its strong industry reputation and the incomparable service they provide to their customers. It is also a reflection of the expertise, loyalty and commitment of all its employees. Our people are our greatest assets and the cornerstone of our business – without their hard work and dedication, achievements such as this wouldn’t be possible.

Specialist Services was formed in the UAE in July 1982  From the first modular buildings, fire-rated products and EPM/EPC projects in the 80s, the company has grown significantly in scope and scale, continuing to innovate and comply to international standards and accreditations, introducing new products, and growing the business locally and internationally.

Still based today in the UAE, Specialist Services has developed an international capability in design, engineering, manufacture, installation and support across a broad range of products and services, including Engineering, Technical Modular Buildings, Modular Rental solutions, Drilling, Testing, Production and Process Packages, Facilities Management Solutions and Service. With more than 100 products and services currently in its portfolio, Specialist Services has completed over 10,000 projects in the last four decades for clients in more than 70 countries around the world.

In June 2021, Specialist Services joined Centurion Group, a global leader in the supply of rentals and services to critical industries. Being part of an international group with significant financial resources like Centurion has allowed Specialist Services to continue to expand and take advantage of the opportunities in the wider Middle East region.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all current and previous employees, as well as all our clients, vendors and partners, who helped us grow over the years, and we look forward to the next 40 years.

Specialist Services Celebrates 2 Million Man-Hours Working Safely

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Specialist Services, part of Centurion Middle East, has achieved another outstanding HSSEQ achievement in April – 2 million man-hours of work in their UAE facilities without any Lost Time Injury (LTI) and zero Total Recordable Cases (TRC) for over two years.

To drive home the significance of this milestone – and coinciding with the World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2022 – the team held a key company-wide safety meeting to celebrate the achievement and discuss current HSSEQ protocols and practices.

As part of a Centurion – known globally for its strong and uncompromising culture of safety – Specialist Services always puts the wellbeing of its people front and centre. It is because of this commitment to health and safety, coupled with its robust competence assurance framework, that Specialist Services were able to reach this important milestone.

Kirankumar Nagare, QHSE Manager at Specialist Services said: “We have invested in numerous initiatives to protect people, ensuring they understand the vital importance of safety-driven working practices. Leaders at all levels within the organisation have shown great commitment in developing and enhancing a positive HSSEQ culture, which was essential in reaching this significant result”.

   

In the photo on the left: Ian Rogers, CEO, and HSE Champion Award recipient, Kannan Muthaiah
In the photo on the right: Ian Rogers, CEO, and Best HSEOC Award recipient, Haru Nur Rasheed

“This achievement is a reflection of our tireless efforts and commitment to HSSEQ – including educational awareness and training programmes, seeking feedback, promoting best practice, and yes, on occasion, disciplining non-conformance. It is truly about putting our employees first, ensuring they care for themselves and others, for their tools, the environment, and the work they produce,” said Ian Rogers, Chief Executive Officer at Specialist Services.

Specialist Services Announces New Monday to Friday 4.5-day Workweek in UAE Facilities

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In line with the UAE governments’ strategy to help achieve business continuity and alignment with global economies, our facilities in the UAE will be altering their working times, effective from 1st January, 2022.

Initiated by the UAE Government earlier this month, the transition to the new working week is “in line with the UAE’s vision to enhance its global competitiveness across economic and business sectors, and to keep pace with global developments,” said the Abu Dhabi government media office. Furthermore, the extended weekend, from Friday afternoon until Sunday, is part of the UAE Government’s efforts aimed to enhancing social wellbeing in the country.

The key change is Specialist Services’ office new 4.5-day working week, with Saturday and Sunday as the new weekend (instead of the previous Friday and Saturday weekend), which will make the working week aligned with Western schedules.

This change in working days will also improve the communications and cooperation with the teams in our regional offices in Europe and Asia, with Centurion and our sister companies based in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, as well as with our clients, vendors, business partners and other stakeholders based in various regions.

Following the New Year’s office holidays from December 31, 2021, to January 2, 2022, from Monday, January 3, 2022, the Specialist Services Headquarters office in Dubai will operate:

  • Monday to Thursday: 7:00-16:30
  • Friday: 7:00-12:00
  • Saturday and Sunday: Closed

From Sunday, January 2, 2022, the Specialist Services yards in the UAE will operate:

  • Sunday to Thursday: 7:00-16:30
  • Friday: 7:00-12:30
  • Saturday: Closed

The new Monday to Friday working week will come into effect on January 1, 2022.

 

Labtech Business Growth Sparks Move to RentAir Base

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Labtech, a Centurion company that specialises in the provision of offshore modular enclosures for people and equipment, has moved its facilities to join RentAir’s base in Dyce, Aberdeen to successfully support its ever-growing operations.

The move was carried out on 22nd November, 2021 and saw all employees from Labtech – both office and yard staff – move to the RentAir facility, which also houses Centurion’s headquarters. The brands will be working alongside each other in the day-to-day running of the businesses, and will share the expansive workshop and yard facilities for preparing equipment and loading out to global customers.

By operating out of the same base, Labtech will be able to work more closely with RentAir and other Centurion brands, better serving customers by being able to offer a wider range of technical packaged services from across both businesses. Sharing facilities will also reduce costs and limit the carbon footprint and overall environmental impact between the two businesses.

For more information on Labtech, please visit: https://labtechmodular.com/

Centurion Joins With The Specialist Services Team in Congratulating Longest Serving Employees

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Centurion is delighted to congratulate and shine the spotlight on Specialist Services’ 97 longest-serving employees!

To celebrate the years of hard work and commitment these employees have dedicated to the business, a Long Service Awards event was hosted at the Specialist Services Dubai location, hosted by Specialist Services CEO Ian Rogers. The awards were presented by Group CEO Fernando Assing as part of his first ever visit to Specialist Services Dubai location, and a celebratory lunch and dinner were held afterwards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone, please help us congratulate all the award recipients for their efforts over the years and exemplifying what it means to be part of Centurion: We Do What We Say, We Work Together, We Do The Right Thing, and We Go The Extra Mile:

 

 

Centurion Announces Transformational Acquisition in Middle East

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  • Centurion acquires Specialist Services providing a strong growth platform in the Middle East
  • Specialist Services is Centurion’s largest acquisition to date and ninth since 2018
  • Acquisition significantly enhances diversity of offering to customers
  • Increases scale and resilience, expanding Centurion’s revenue base by c.20%
  • Accelerates strategy to deliver essential rentals and services to critical industries globally

Centurion Group (“Centurion”), a global leader in the supply of essential rentals and services to critical industries, today announces the acquisition of Specialist Services Group (“Specialist Services”), an innovative provider of modular buildings, production equipment and other technical services. Specialist Services is Centurion’s largest acquisition to date with 2020 reported revenues of over $60 million.

Increasing Centurion’s global footprint with a significant new bases in the Middle East

Specialist Services is based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has operations across the Middle East, Asia and South-East Asia and Europe. The acquisition significantly enhances Centurion’s ability to support its customers on a global basis and increases Centurion’s geographic diversity with expansion into an important, high growth region for customers in key end markets such as infrastructure, support services, power, traditional and new energies and environmental services.

Bringing Centurion’s differentiated technical services to new customers

Specialist Services is internationally recognised for its technical modular buildings offering. The company uses specialist in-house engineering and manufacturing to create modular building configurations for specific customer requirements. Applicable to a broad range of harsh environments, such as onshore petrochemical or offshore renewables, Specialist Services’ flexible building solutions are highly adaptable and delivered to customers on a permanent or rental basis. The business is a strong strategic fit with Centurion’s existing Accommodation and Modular Solutions (AMS) operations, and will enable a larger and more technically differentiated product range to be made available to an expanded global customer base.

Specialist Services also offers design, engineering, and manufacturing of production and process packages for the energy industry, in addition to a broad range of facilities management services. These technical services complement the core buildings offering and are a strategic fit with Centurion’s existing Infrastructure and DCP businesses.

Aligned with Centurion’s strategic focus on sustainable growth and differentiation

Specialist Services brings scale and an enhanced sustainability proposition with its focus on innovative, efficient products. The acquisition further extends Centurion’s opportunities to work alongside customers to develop solutions to their environmental and sustainability challenges, in addition to supporting Centurion’s own Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) agenda.

The acquisition of Specialist Services is consistent with Centurion’s focus on bringing value enhancing acquisitions into the Group to accelerate its growth strategy.

Fernando Assing, Chief Executive Officer of Centurion, said:

“Specialist Services is a very high-quality business aligned to our strategy of sustainably delivering essential rentals and services to critical industries globally. The business brings a strong management team and provides us with a strategic base in the Middle East, Asia and Southeast Asia, which alongside our established positions in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, means that we are able to provide a broader range of essential products and services to international customers wherever they need them. With Specialist Services we are significantly expanding our business, and creating a more resilient, scalable platform as we seek to be a partner of choice available for global customers across critical industries in the fulfilment of their sustainable growth plans. As we continue to grow the business, I am increasingly optimistic about the future. We have a strong pipeline of opportunities and we look forward to building momentum.”

About Centurion Group

Centurion is a global leader in the supply of critical services to the oil & gas, infrastructure, power, environmental and renewable energy industries. It combines the scale and the breadth of offerings via its four global geomarkets: US Land (USL); Canada Rentals & Services (CR&S), Canada Infrastructure (CINF) and Rest of World (RoW), with strong local presence in key energy markets like US, Canada, UK & Europe, Caspian, Middle East, Asia and Australia, to deliver value to customers around the world.

 

 

For more information, please visit www.centuriongroup.co.uk.

LABTECH is taking part in the UK Government Kickstart Scheme

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We are delighted to announce that LABTECH is taking part in the UK Government Kickstart Scheme, an initiative designed to give young people in the UK valuable work experience and life skills to assist them in their future endeavours.

After interviewing several young and enthusiastic candidates we have offered and subsequently started two new employees, Micha Swinton, who takes up the role as Trainee Office Administrator, and Kieran Gunn, who joins us as Trainee Yard Assistant.

Andy Watson, Business Development Manager at LABTECH said: “it’s an extremely exciting opportunity for Micha and Kieran to join the Specialist Services Group family, at a time that we have just expanded at LABTECH with the recent acquisition of HB Rentals assets, and we look forward to growth across the company. I know that the senior management team is extremely proud to be taking part in this scheme, assisting the next generation in gaining valuable experience.”

Labtech operates from new larger premises in Dyce with an increased Modular Hire fleet

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Following an increasing demand for our modular buildings rental and support services, as well as Specialist Services Group’s acquisition of HB Rentals assets outside the US, Labtech Services Limited have relocated their facilities to larger premises in Aberdeen to accommodate an increased Modular Hire fleet.

“This change marks another important milestone at Labtech and Specialist Services Group. Despite this year’s challenging market conditions related to the Coronavirus crisis, we have witnessed an increased demand for modular building rentals, service, maintenance and refurbishment works. During the past four years, Labtech has been focused on providing modular offshore accommodation and office units for rental and service works, and in response to increased rental fleet and demands in Europe have now relocated to a larger facility in Aberdeen,” said Ian Rogers, Chief Executive Officer at Specialist Services Group.

The new facility is located in Unit 10 Wellheads Terrace, Wellheads Industrial Estate, Dyce, and includes office space for the Labtech team, a modern workshop for refurbishment, recertification and modification works, and an extensive hard standing yard for our Modular Hire fleet storage.

“We already have the highest specification and newest Office Module fleet available anywhere in Europe and have previously expanded our fleet in Aberdeen, including our fully ABS compliant FLEX 33 Accommodation Modules in 2018. Our Modular Hire fleet now includes the recently acquired HB Rentals high quality assets, including a sizable quantity of 8 man offshore ABS certified accommodation modules. These units significantly increase our capacity to offer larger temporary living quarter solutions in Europe, Middle East and Asia,” said Chris Ridley, Group Sales and Marketing Director at Specialist Services Group.

The facility relocation will bring further benefits to Labtech and Specialist Services Group by providing a wider range of sought after Modular Hire units at competitive rates for immediate delivery, in addition to our responsive call out service and maintenance works, and refurbishment works.

Visit our Contact page for Labtech new location and contact details.

Latest Specialist Services article feature in OGN – Oil & Gas News

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Innovation helps Specialist Services lead through challenging times

With a proactive approach, throughout these challenging times, Specialist Services has been continuously working on innovative solutions that maximise efficiency for our clients, while optimising costs, as clients are hugely price conscious in these uncertain times.

Ian Rogers, CEO, and Chris Ridley, Group Sales and Marketing Director, speak to OGN about the changes in demand in the Oil & Gas industry and the company’s proactive and innovative approach in addressing these changes to better serve our clients. They also discuss about the Specialist Services’ forward-thinking approach in addressing the increasing demands for specific products in other industries, such security and defence, renewables, vessels and others.

Within this ADNOC Review issue of OGN, Chris Ridley also talks about Specialist Services’ long-term call-off contract with ADNOC Offshore for all accommodation upgrades and refurbishment works for a period of five years.

While continuing our development and expansion in the Middle East, Europe and Asia, we have recently completed also the acquisition of rental assets from HB Rentals outside the Americas, which include offshore accommodation modules and Zone rated office modules. Leading through challenging times, we have no plans to slow down, as further growth and expansion strategies are already underway.

Find out more in the feature article available online.