Be my Guest… Brendan Forbes
As part of LEEA’s YouTube series, ‘Be my Guest…’ Jenny Eagle, reporter, LEEA, speaks to Brendon Forbes, Group Technical Director, Alatas Crane Services Worldwide, which provides training and mechanical handling services to the energy and marine transport sectors.
Forbes has worked for Alatas Crane Services Worldwide for five years, following previous roles within the lifting industry. His focus is on the delivery of oil and gas maintenance contracts and developing all engineering and technical services across the group.
“I've been here for 20 years in Aberdeen, it’s a major centre for engineering and technical roles in general. In the past we’ve gone through a mix of ups and downs, with the industry transition towards renewables, and what that means for people coming through for the next generation. To some extent a few people think there isn't going to be longevity here, which I disagree with, but it's prompted me and plenty of others to realise we probably have quite a lot to do in terms of plugging the skills gap in general, so we're introducing more apprentice and scholarship schemes. Trying to look at what we can do more with, talking about the industry and education a bit more to showcase what we do,” he said.
“The oil and gas industry will continue to go through some transitions, but it's not going to stop. It's going to be here for a long time.
“Here at Alatas, we focus on energy in general and the marine transport industry. Our scope of activities covers the ports markets, subsea, marine, oil and gas. So anyone coming into our business gets exposure to all ofthese different areas.”
Forbes started his career through a graduate trainee programme with his employer at the time and said it was a fantastic way to immerse yourself in the industry because they allow you to discover every area of the business.
“There was always a focus on giving people exposure to multiple different parts of the business and with that, you ended up having a rounded skill set. And we used to get people out on site a lot more, not just sitting in the office behind a desk but visiting a workshop environment. There's no substitute for seeing things first hand,” he added.
“We're a growing business and we're continuing to grow across markets and regions. We’ll continue to develop our technical base here in Aberdeen, but also in a lot of our other key critical locations around the world, where we're doing similar project programmes. We will boost the teams over there. So, what we learn in one area, we'll look to take into another. And we're really looking at taking on more apprentices, graduates and cross skilling from other industries where we need the support.
“We're really proud of the business we have. We have leadership roles throughout the group where we have many female roles, particularly in Asia, where our operational directors who head up our Shanghai and Indonesia regions are women. We also have multiple other managerial positions with functional roles within the group that are all led by females working their way up through the company. They've got great careers ahead of them.”
Click HERE to watch the video on LEEA YouTube channel.
For more information about #GLAD2024 visit https://globalliftingawarenessday.com
