A company which strives to become Europe’s largest provider of wind turbine blade maintenance is to establish its international headquarters in East Yorkshire.
GEV Offshore, part of the global GEV Group, recently agreed to lease an office and warehouse unit at Priory Tec Park, Hessle, which will accommodate a team of six to eight people, increasing to around 12 during the next year.
The facility is due to open this month and will provide administration and logistics support for the company’s wind turbine blade maintenance team, which is expected to increase from around 100 to more than 250 technicians during the next two years.
The company is also undergoing a re-branding process, with the new GEV Wind Power underlining its status and ambitions within the expanding sector.
David Fletcher, Managing Director of GEV Offshore said the company intends to recruit locally for some of its new positions.
He said: ‘GEV Offshore continues to grow and the company is actively recruiting experienced rope access technicians from the oil and gas and construction industries who are looking for a fresh challenge in the renewable energy sector.
‘The new premises in Hull will incorporate a dedicated facility to accommodate rope access training. We employ Europe’s largest number of wind turbine maintenance technicians with project teams deployed throughout Europe and as far afield as Asia. These teams will be managed from Hull together with a satellite office based in Lowestoft and our planned expansion over the next six months will include local recruitment for some positions.’
David revealed that GEV Offshore decided on the move to Hull even before Siemens confirmed its own investment in the city. Oxifree Metal Protection, which provides specialist metal protection coatings and is part of the GEV Group, already has projects at sites in Immingham.
He said: ‘With Siemens having made their announcement there will be more of the supply chain looking at the region but we made our decision some time ago based on our need for a base that can serve our network.
‘We have other businesses in the region, we work all over the country and we chose Hull because it is centrally located with good access to the motorway network.’