Page 66: of Marine Technology Magazine (July 2012)

The Case The Case SMD has established itself as a leading engineering and manufacturing company spe- cializing in remotely operat-ed equipment for hazardous environments. The business has continued to grow an international footprint from its domestic market origins in the North Sea oil and gas and telecoms sectors. SMD is one of the world?s leading manufacturers of remote intervention equipment, working in hazardous environments worldwide. Customers span a range of sectors from energy (oil and gas, marine renewables and off- shore wind infrastructure, nuclear), to telecoms, mining, naval / military and scienti c communities. The company has recent- ly reorganized itself along  ve key business streams: Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), Trenching, Renewables, Nuclear, and Subsea Mining. The business has grown its headcount signiÞ cantly over the past two years; from 136 employees at the beginning of 2010, to more than 450 today. The Tech The Tech In 2003 SMD acquired Hydrovision and set out to become the world?s leading workclass ROVsupplier. The strategy in work- class ROVs was to develop a product range (the ?Q-series?), with advanced components and controls (?Curvetech?) and a turnkey offering which included SMD designed launch and re- covery equipment. Since winning its  rst order from QinetiQ in 2005 SMD has achieved its current position as the nubm- ber one independent supplier of workclass ROVs, measured by orders received in 2010. On the trenching side, SMD has maintained its position as the words number one trenching supplier, with systems such as UT1 (Ultra-Trencher 1) and Davy Bank, Wallsend Davy Bank, Wallsend Tyne & Wear NE28 6UZ Tyne & Wear NE28 6UZ UK UK Tel: 0191 234 8675 Tel: 0191 234 8675 898000 898000 Email: victoria.bosi@ Email: victoria.bosi@ smd.co.uk smd.co.uk Website: www.smd.co.uk Website: www.smd.co.uk CEOCEO: Andrew Hodgson Employees Employees: 473 Annual Sales Annual Sales: $150m SMD SMD July/August 2012 66 MTRMTR #6 (66-80).indd 66MTR #6 (66-80).indd 668/2/2012 2:17:31 PM8/2/2012 2:17:31 PM