This page was last updated on: 04/10/2007

Cromwell Exhibit at Offshore Europe

Offshore Europe 2007, stand 1250 focused heavily on the basics, product, product and more product! Manned by representatives from Cromwell Aberdeen, Peterhead & International, we anticipated over 32,000 visitors based on those who pre-registered and the city of Aberdeen braced itself for an influx from around the world. The giants of the oil industry were in attendance and the prestige of the event was reflected in the size of the stands and the money reportedly invested in them.

Following months of planning, preparation and pestering of the Marketing team and the realisation that one or two of us had developed ‘OCD’, the Cromwell stand was about to be revealed. The finishing touches were being applied when the Oil & Gas brochure, produced for the show, was delivered and our first order was taken from one of our fellow exhibitors. At last our efforts had all come together, the culmination of which was a stand worthy of its place in this esteemed company. We looked forward to day 1 with anticipation, the Scottish first minister Alex Salmond would be opening the show at 9am, but ‘things could only get better’!

Tuesday - A slow start but the halls began to fill by lunchtime, the Cromwell party was in full swing, with our ‘Oil and Gas Industry’ brochure flying from the stand. "Every Product, Every Brand, One Supplier", was the cry as our yellow and blue standard attracted visitors to the ‘Cromwell-oiled’ machine. Enquiries from home and abroad including Wood Group, Oceanteam Power, Batt Cables, SER Invergordon and Shell Exploration and by the end of the day we had accumulated 45 substantial enquiries, for product and systems. All in all a good day.

Wednesday - Once again a hub of activity and the quality of enquiry remained high with visits from Oilstates, Halliburton and Slumberger, however the highlight of the day was the signing of a frame work agreement with Aker Kvaerner (see photo). This is the culmination of months of work and for this agreement to be signed in such a public arena escalates our position in the market place dramatically, this is a major account for the Cromwell Group and we will now see a global roll out of our two companies working partnership.

Thursday - The busiest day yet, our Z-Barrier system display caught the eye of purchasers, engineers and safety officers alike, while the supporting product flyer literally flew off the stand and demonstrations were arranged at Read Well, F.I.T., Halliburton, Petrowell, Salamis and Shell! We were visited by John Reynolds ‘Lord Provost of Aberdeen’ (see photo), he didn’t buy anything (he claims he doesn’t carry cash) but he went on his way carrying Cromwell literature for his services department. Another V.I.P. visitor was Doug Mitchell of 3M, MD for UK & Ireland, who was keen to promote the Cromwell/3M M.R.O. development programmes.

Friday - Referred to as Student day, therefore everything that could be tied down was, in anticipation of hordes of “future” customers looking for mementos, but we were pleasantly surprised with the genuine interest from the floor. Telephone enquiries generated from the Oil & Gas Industry brochure were now being received from as far as 130 miles away and what we hope will be the first of many new accounts were opened. At the end we had a lot of weary staff with sore feet, but they all had a smile on their face.

This exhibition was very much about exposure, about spreading the word on who, where and what we are. We did this with tremendous success, utilising the support of our head office, the market knowledge of our local management and the genuine enthusiasm of all who represented us on the stand. By the close we had a little over 200 leads, we had distributed over 1000 copies of the new catalogue, and made a genuine statement to the market, we are a player, we have strength in depth and we are here to stay. How could they resist?

Undoubtedly Cromwell’s best Offshore Europe show yet, we were complemented on our company’s efforts, both in our stands creation and the manning of it. We are all very proud of the finished product, how it came together and the teamwork involved in its completion. The head office support was first class, without which the show would have been only a shadow of the success it actually was.

The hard work and enthusiasm shown by everyone involved made this ‘EVENT’ a real success and thanks must be acknowledged to everyone involved, from the planning, delivering the components to the AECC to physically manning the stand. Thanks to you all - You know who you are! See you again in 2009?

By Rob Sayles/Alex Macdonald