24/7 Ambassadors

You’re only as good as your last job, they say... but when you're backed up by a great team, every job is a success, believes MDL operations director, George Mackintosh. Read his views on the power of nurtured internal resources in this blog.

It’s a cliche to say: you’re only as good as your last job. But there’s this thing about cliches - they tend to be true.

Following our recent job in Asia Pacific - our first job in India - the crew received stellar feedback. Apart from operating a brand new piece of kit (the MDL 110-tonne tensioner) problem-free, they were on hand to keep the job running smoothly.

MDL is still a young company on the flexlay market - we launched the Offshore Service three years ago. In that time we’ve managed to build up a team that’s not afraid of taking on initiative, and who is keen to raise to a challenge and take on responsibility.

These guys have always received great feedback on projects; I believe it has a lot to do with their grounding in our part of the world.

We’re spoilt for people in Peterhead, really. They have a great work ethic: they keep to themselves, know when to speak up, and don’t try hard to impress - they just get on with the job, knowing that they’re working with market-leading equipment, which really does most of the talking.

Our guys that go offshore are also the guys that build the machinery, are usually part of commissioning and testing, and have seen the sweat and tears that go into it the delivery of the product - some of it will be their own.

Ultimately, they know they’re MDL Ambassadors; while our sales and marketing teams can go out and tell a great story, it’s these guys who prove that story is true.

But it’s not just the offshore team - it’s the guys on the ground who provide them with continuous support before, during and after the project. And it’s also the teams that build the equipment, who continue to develop the systems, improve their functionality, and never stop looking for ways to make the operations safer and sleeker.

Because, to be honest, there isn’t an “offshore team” or an “onshore team”; there isn’t an Aberdeen, a Peterhead, a Perth and a Houston - it’s all MDL. What runs thorough every part of the company is team work - we’re all trying to do the best we can for the company to get the best of it for ourselves.

And, inevitably, giving our best to every project - everyone’s a winner with Team MDL.

George Mackintosh, operations director