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It was great to see NRL featured in the EIC’s recently released annual Survive & Thrive report where we had the pleasure of joining over 130 fellow businesses operating across the energy market sharing insights, observations and success stories. The annual publication, now in its eighth volume, shines a spotlight on all manner of achievements across the industry, from diversification into new services and territories to industry collaboration and product innovation. As part of our feature in the latest edition, we were delighted to chat to the EIC about the evolution and expansion of our Major Component Upgrade (MCU) service over the past year.
An unexpected challenge
Across the NRL Group we are proud of the way we work with our clients – placing a heavy focus on intrinsically understanding their business so we can develop strategic solutions which best meet their needs. This approach to collaborative working has served us well historically and it was put into action yet again to help support a key client operating in the wind turbine maintenance market.
Following the supply & management of 80 specialist wind turbine technicians & MCU supervisors, including facilitating travel, logistics, administration and purchasing arrangements across multiple European countries, our client (a sub-contractor) revealed that they planned to exit the wind turbine market. This decision risked the loss of these highly skilled engineers, and the ultimate end client identified a risk of operational failure should the MCU supervisors no longer be available. Our collaborative nature kicked in, and following close consultations with all stakeholders, we developed an innovative solution to the problem – we would step into the shoes of the sub-contractor and welcome the MCU supervisor team into NRL as directly-engaged, full-time employees, allowing us to maintain access to their knowledge, highly desirable skillset and the specialist equipment required to undertake their work.
The transition into our new solution
Throughout the transition, it was vital to keep our client updated as plans developed, minimising disruption to their project operations. Within a period of just four weeks, we went from having simply recruited these experts to directly managing our newly established MCU service team, allowing us to continue supporting a major client with their requirements and further strengthening our relationship.
Not only that, but it also placed us in a position where we were able to further expand the service geographically and evolve a critical addition to our renewable energy portfolio which has seen our MCU team embark on major projects across Europe in the months since its inception.
We reflect on this achievement to remind ourselves of the importance of remaining committed to supporting our clients through difficult situations – despite some initial risks, we’ve now established a healthy foothold in a new market, with a new service for us to build upon, all whilst establishing an evergreen framework agreement with our client – delivering a successful outcome for all involved.
Seeing our innovation recognised
We were proud to share our story with the EIC team, and it was a welcome surprise to learn that the tale does not end there. We recently discovered that our innovative solution captured the attention of the EIC National Awards’ judging panel, seeing us nominated in this year’s Scale Up category.
It is the second time we are making an appearance in the awards, following our 2021 win where we received the Diversification award for our innovative ultrasonic inspection and qualification service, which supported mechanical and piping component testing on nuclear new build sites.
We look forward to attending this year’s ceremony, scheduled for Thursday, 10th October, and in the meantime, we will continue to demonstrate our commitment to excellence, innovation and setting a benchmark for industry standards within the energy sector.
If you’re interested in learning more about our service offerings in the UK or anywhere else in the world, feel free to contact me for a chat.