Sparrows Group Wins Renewables Award

Sparrows Group is celebrating after coming out on top at the 2018 Press and Journal Gold Awards, winning the esteemed Renewables Award.

The black-tie ceremony was held at the Marcliffe Hotel in Aberdeen, where Matt Corbin, director of European operations at Sparrows, was presented with the accolade.

The Aberdeen-based firm has more than 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and was recognised for successfully transferring its knowledge and experience to the renewables sector over the past two years.

Sparrows was commended for providing 102 bespoke WindMaster turbine platform cranes to the East Anglian ONE offshore wind farm for ScottishPower Renewables. The WindMaster, which was specifically developed for the renewables market, is the only luffing crane designed and manufactured in the UK suitable for the offshore wind industry.

Sparrows further strengthened its position in the global sector in December last year with the acquisition of Alpha Offshore Service A/S. The Danish-based company provides engineering personnel and inspection services to the wind energy industry, specialising in the delivery of operations and maintenance services to onshore and offshore wind developments.

The Group was also praised for the investment in its existing Aberdeen workshops which were reconfigured to accommodate its growing number of projects in the renewables sector. This decision protected a number of jobs in Aberdeen where the company continues to be headquartered.

Stewart Mitchell, Sparrows Group chief executive officer, said: “We have made great progress in the renewables sector over the past 24 months. Winning the Press and Journal Gold Award in this category is testament to the hard work and drive of our highly skilled team. Their commitment to ensuring we utilise years of experience in the offshore industry to deliver a quality product is something to be proud of.

“By implementing a robust diversification strategy and identifying a gap in the renewables market for the East Anglia ONE project, it has enabled us to expand our core business and become a key player in the sector.”

On Friday (7th September), energy minister, Paul Wheelhouse MSP, made a special visit to Sparrows’ training centre at the company’s Tyrebagger site on the outskirts of Aberdeen.

He was visiting the unique facility, that has recently added a WindMaster crane to its range of fully operational cranes available for crane operator training, to hear more about the firm’s activities and see the WindMaster crane in action.