Tyneside marine company to expand

Shepherd Offshore, based at the Offshore Technology Park in Walker, Tyneside, UK, has snapped up the neighbouring former NIM Engineering site, with plans to spend ?£2m on redeveloping it. The investment will see the renovation of the vacant site to turn it into fabrication facilities, including overhead cranes.

Offshore oil and gas firm Shepherd Offshore now has more than a million square feet of land at its Walker headquarters. Director Charles Shepherd said: ???We will turn the NIM Engineering factory into a modern oil and gas fabrication facility. We are trying to support and develop the local offshore industry and the local economy as a whole. We are strategically picking up new sites whenever we can. It is all about encouraging inward investment in the area by taking on these sorts of sites and then renovating and spending money on them to bring them up to modern standards.??

Shepherd Offshore revealed earlier this year that it is refurbishing the old quay edge at Walker Riverside. After the renovation, including new industrial buildings, is completed, it will be used for light marine industry work. The company was established 30 years ago and provides material-handling, mobile cranes, procurement and fabrication facilities, warehousing and project management teams. In recent years it has seen a 30% increase in vessel activities at its berths, with strong growth expected over the next five years.