Claxton turns 25

24/05/2010

Claxton has passed a special milestone – it is 25 years since the company was founded. The anniversary falls during a period when the business has maintained strong growth, expanded not only geographically and but also in terms of its product and service range, and undertaken a significant corporate rebranding exercise.

Set up in 1985 by Bob Claxton, in Great Yarmouth, UK, the company had a revenue of £33 million in the last full financial year. While Claxton’s main base remains in Great Yarmouth, bases have also been established in Aberdeen and, most recently, in Dubai. Claxton became part of the leading oilfield service group Acteon in 1999. However, there is still a strong family involvement in the business: Laura Claxton has the role of managing director and Dannie Claxton, technical director.

Laura Claxton said, “We started the business with a handful of passionate people and premises that didn't have running water! Since then Claxton has become a flagship company within Acteon and a genuinely international organisation. We are proud of our staff retention record and can boast over 800 years of oilfield experience within the 100-strong workforce in Great Yarmouth.”

From being focused on the North Sea market, Claxton now competes on the global stage with the biggest names in the international oil & gas services industry. (Claxton won its first major contract in the North America in 2007. Worth £1 million, this was to supply a drilling riser to Canada’s Encana.) Clients number more than 250 and include many of the world’s leading oil & gas exploration and production companies.

The company has forged its reputation in the well services area, with the emphasis on drilling riser technology, well conductor engineering, drilling template design and fabrication, well tieback operations and well decommissioning. Claxton also holds one of the largest jackup drilling riser inventories in the UK. Riser rental constitutes a significant part of the business, with customers attracted by the speed with which Claxton is able to mobilise equipment.

Laura Claxton believes the success of the company is down to its people and their commitment to service quality. Dannie Claxton adds, “Also important is our ability to react quickly when clients come to us with a problem. Further, clients value the fact that we often think slightly differently from other service providers and are not afraid to propose unusual solutions to save time and money and improve safety.”

Claxton’s innovative qualities are perfectly illustrated by a long list of industry firsts. Most recently, it supplied the first full-bore, ultra high pressure drilling riser pipe specifically for use by a jackup rig. Recognition of the company’s success has come in the form of a continual stream of industry awards. These range from the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement, in 1998, to the Spirit of Enterprise “Great Engineering Company” Award in 2009.

Laura Claxton says, “We are very proud of our record over the past 25 years. More importantly, looking forward, the business is in great shape. We have a perfect platform on which to continue to develop and build the organisation for the benefit of our staff and customers alike.”

For more information, please contact:
Nick Marriott, commercial manager, Claxton
T: +44 (0)1493 744500

Claxton, an Acteon company, is the leading supplier of engineering and services for
shallow water, jackup depth markets. The company draws on over two decades of industry
experience to provide services for well systems, structures and pipelines across the
lifetime of the field – from pre-drilling to drilling, production and decommissioning. Claxton
provides first-class tailored engineering and holds a large “on-call” rental inventory. A
hallmark of Claxton is the responsive service that, alongside numerous field-proven
innovations, has built the company an enviable reputation.

Acteon provides the international offshore oil industry with specialised engineering
services focused on linking subsea services. Acteon companies are 2H Offshore, Aquatic,
CAPE Group Ltd, Claxton, Conductor Installation Services Ltd (CIS), Fluke Engenharia
Ltda, InterAct, InterMoor, Large Diameter Drilling (LDD), Mirage Machines Ltd, MENCK
GmbH, Offshore Installation Services (OIS), Seatronics Ltd, Subsea Riser Products (SRP)
and TEAM Energy Resources Ltd.