Gloucester, UK – April 2015 – Gloucester-based Advanced Insulation – a leading manufacturer of technical and insulation materials for the upstream oil and gas industry; and specialist in the design, engineering and manufacture of polymer solutions for the marine and offshore sectors – is delighted to announce that its has been placed at number 89 in the Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100.

The list, which ranks Britain’s private companies with the fastest-growing profits over the last three years, is now in its 16th year and is published with the Business section and in the Sunday Times digital edition.

Commenting for Advanced Insulation, group marketing manager Matt Collins says: “This is our second appearance on the Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 league table in as many years and, once again, we are delighted to be acknowledged by such a prestigious organisation. Our entry onto the list places us amongst some absolute greats from British manufacturing to be recognised in recent years, including JCB, the Unipart Group and Centek.”

Advanced Insulation made the list with an annual profit growth of 45% over three years and is one of six companies from the South West region to be ranked in this year’s Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100; with the combined profits of all six totalling £48m and collectively employing over 800 staff.

Andrea Bishop, partner and head of the South West at BDO, the title sponsor of the league table, commented on the region’s success stories by saying: “Medium-sized businesses in the South West and across the UK are thriving. Our newly-named ‘Brittelstand’ has outgrown the German ‘Mittelstand’ with mid-market businesses across all sectors seizing the opportunities a growing economy presents. The southwest’s most profitable companies have remained focused on sustainable growth by making intelligent investment decisions in innovation and overseas expansion.”

To find out more about Advanced Insulation’s products and service, visit www.aisplc.com, email info@aisplc.com or call +44 (0)1452 880880.

Gloucester, UK – 2014 – Plymouth-based Manuplas – an Advanced Insulation company specialising in the design, engineering and manufacture of polymer solutions for the marine and offshore sectors – has appointed Guy Downie as head of sales for its buoyancy products.

Welcoming Guy to the team, Advanced Insulation’s director of subsea sales Kevin Firth says: “Guy’s proven track record and experience as a manager and technical sales professional in the offshore oil and gas sector will prove invaluable to Manuplas as we seek growth in new and existing markets and sectors.”

Commenting on his appointment, Guy explains that the role as head of sales for buoyancy gives him responsibility for a market-leading portfolio that includes surface-rated marine and subsea buoyancy solutions and other moulded PU products at a time when, following substantial investment in a new, state-of-the-art syntactic foam process plant, the company has significantly improved lead times and project deliveries thanks to increased capacity.

“The investment at our Plymouth facility means we can offer faster lead times and are well placed in the market to supply both shallow and deepwater buoyancy products manufactured from a wide range of composite technologies including ultra-low density materials.” says Guy.

The Manuplas portfolio includes buoyancy products for offshore installations including MODSYN floats, modular subsea buoys and pipeline installation floats; piggy back blocks, guides and clamps; engineered clamps, distributed buoyancy modules for riser and umbilical systems; ROV vehicle buoyancy using ultra-low-density composite syntactic foams; and moulded PU protection products, including cable protection systems.

Guy joins the Advanced Insulation group of companies – a leading manufacturer of technical and insulation materials for the upstream oil and gas industry – having worked for multi-national organisations including Vikoma, Freudenberg and Trelleborg.

For further information on Advanced Insulation’s Manuplas buoyancy systems, call +44 (0)1452 880880, email sales@aisplc.com or visit www.aisplc.com.

Following months of extensive laboratory trials, Q8Oils is delighted to announce that its Q8 Volta range of high-performance turbine oils has been approved for use on a number of gas and steam turbine circulation systems; and now meets the MAN Turbo SPD 10000494596 specification and Alstom Power’s HTGD 90117 specification. 

Unlike many conventional turbine oils that are based on Group I or Group II base fluids, Q8 Volta is created using a high-quality Group III base fluid that has been specifically developed to offer outstanding resistance against ageing and oxidation. It also provides a long, trouble-free service life, excellent protection against rust and corrosion, outstanding water separation performance and features rapid air-release properties.

Commenting for Q8Oils, energy specialist Tony O’Keeffe says: “Our laboratory tests confirm that Q8 Volta is unlike other turbine oils that simply meet OEM specifications, it is a quality oil designed and developed to last the five to ten years demanded by the latest gas and steam turbines.”

The new Q8 Volta range includes four turbine oils. Q8 Volta 32 and Q8 Volta 46 are developed specifically for conventional gas and steam turbines; and Q8 Volta EP 32 and Q8 Volta EP 46 for geared systems. All the oils in the range can also be used for either gas or steam turbine applications and will exceed the necessary industry standard specifications including DIN 51515-1 & 2, BS 489, ISO 6743-5 and ISO 8068.

Editors Notes
To ensure that Q8Oils develops oils that oxidise slowly, laboratory tests to artificially age oils are carried out over a ten-week period, during which lubricant breakdown (e.g. antioxidant decrease) is compared with performance indicators. Oils that oxidise slowly are not commonplace because most are designed to meet fresh oil specs and additives that perform well when fresh will not necessarily age slowly.

Each test is carried out in a controlled environment, with the oil temperature set to 135 degrees centigrade and an airflow rate of 6 ltr/hr. Steel catalyst bars are used to increase the speed of the oxidation process and therefore shorten the test duration. The pictures accompanying this press release show three oils (Q8 Volta EP 46 and two competitor products) following a ten-week laboratory test.

Specialist weld engineering company Arc Energy Resources is pleased to announce the appointment of David Hodges as Welding Engineer.

David began his welding career as an apprentice, where he gained experience in both sheet metalwork and welding. He progressed into design, quality and manufacturing for specialist automotive and rail products manufacturer Johnson Security, before achieving the role of senior production engineer and welding specialist, working between factories in both the UK and China.

In his role as senior welding process engineer with his previous company IMI, David successfully established two new product lines, whilst supporting and improving current production on products for the nuclear industry.

Welcoming David to the Arc Energy Resources team to focus on weld engineering within the oil and gas industry, managing director Alan Robinson says his previous experience in senior roles and his in-depth knowledge of welding, make him a valuable asset.

David lives with his partner and their daughter in Cheltenham and in his spare time enjoys singing and playing in his band, building and riding classic motorcycles, and watching motorsport.

For further information contact: 
Alan Robinson, Arc Energy Resources 
Unit 12 Eastington Industrial Estate, Meadow Mill, Eastington, Gloucestershire GL10 3RZ 
Tel: 44 (0)1453 823523 Fax: 44 (0)1453 823623 
E-mail: sales@arcenergy.co.uk Web: www.arcenergy.co.uk

For press information contact: 
Dennis Cantillion, Cantillion King Advertising 
16 The Cornhill, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 2JT 
Tel: 44 (0)1453 755551 Fax: 44 (0)1453 751525 E-mail: dennis@cka.co.uk

Arc Energy Resources is one of the UK’s leading specialists in weld overlay cladding and fabrication for the oil & gas industry. The company’s expertise provides protection against corrosion and wear for a variety of process and pipeline equipment for use in any hostile environment.  

The company recently made a major investment in two new Rotating Head welding machines costing £500,000. This has increased productivity and extended the size and scope of work it can handle, which now includes complicated component geometries for the full or partial cladding and fabrication of a huge range of component sizes weighing up to 15 tonnes. The company’s in-house designed cladding workstations feature state-of-the-art control systems developed to suit its customer’s specialised engineering requirements, and can clad bores up to four metres diameter and areas of restricted access within bores as small as 20mm diameter. Arc Energy also offers in-house test weld, heat treatment, PMI and NDT facilities.  

Industry certifications include ISO 9001:2008 quality management, ISO 3834-2 fusion welding of metallic materials, and the internationally renowned ASME U and R Stamps, as well as ISO 14001:2004 environment management, Investors in People and OHSAS 18001:2007 Health & Safety management system.