More than 200 firms hopeful of securing work on the Seagreen offshore windfarm project, gathered in Dundee for a meet the buyer event yesterday.
It was the last of a three day roadshow organised by Perth based energy giant SSE Renewables which were designed to allow firms to find out more about the project and meet tier 1 contractors who collectivelly have around 250 contracts on offer over the next 18 months.
John Casserly, head of procurement at SSE said he was “over the moon” at the success of the event.
He said: “We have held meet the buyer days in Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness, with a combined attendance of more than 400 representatives of firms from a broad spectrum of specialities ranging from cleaners to large scale engineering companies.
“Companies from Angus and across Tayside have been well represented.
“The days have been particularly well recieved and we have had excellent feedback from suppliers.”
As well as presentations which outlined the scal of the project and the type of work available, delegates had one-to-one sessions with tier 1 contractors which were limited to ten minutes each.
Mr Casserly said: “The format of the the meetings has worked well, with delegates saying the restricted time with contractors helped them focus their pitch.
“I would like to thank everyone who attended and I’m delighted so many people came along – I’m over the moon so many turned out.”
One local firm who plans to bid for work is Unicorn Cleaning Services who operate from Montrose and Dundee.
Danielle Ormond from the firm said: “Today has been very positive and interesting.
“We’ll certainly be throwing our hat in the ring for portakabin cleaning work.
“We are looking forward to seeing the project progress.”
One engineering and design company had travelled from Teeside to attend the event.
Helen Utley, business development manage for Engie Fabricom described the event as a “very positive experience” and hoped there would be opportunities for firms based outside of Scotland.
The Seagreen windfarm will be constructed 27km – 80km from the Angus coastline and will see 114 turbines in water depths of between 30 – 70 km in a total area of more than 2,800km2.
The project will provide power for around one million homes.
The project could contribute £2 billion to the UK economy, of which £1bn could be spent in Scotland.
jimillar@thecourier.co.uk