As Briggs Marine celebrates its 50th anniversary, the marine and environmental company looks at the highlights from the last 5 decades, reflects on its growth and provides an insight into what lies ahead.
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The company, which was established by Robin Briggs in October 1972, was set up to provide workboats to assist with marine based construction works around Scotland’s coast.
Fast forward 50 years and the landscape looks entirely different. Whilst Briggs Marine remains a family-owned business, the fleet now boasts over 30 vessels and the company’s service offering encompasses port and vessel management, cable installation and repair, diving, salvage, heavy moorings and Aids to Navigation (AtoN) management, as well as oil spill response services. The list is not exhaustive.
Briggs Marine’s Managing Director, Collieson Briggs, will modestly tell you the company has simply ‘navigated the marine industry well’, but the fact is, Briggs Marine has grown to become market-leading marine experts due to its collaborative and adaptive approach and the ability to evolve and stay ahead of the curve.
Reacting to the Market
Briggs Marine’s success has been achieved through planned and careful investment throughout the years in both its assets and people.
During the 1980’s Briggs identified an opportunity in the Environmental Services market. This foresight saw the company play a part in the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster response team.
These days, the number of oil spill occurrences have significantly reduced, however, this has not stopped Briggs Marine’s environmental services division evolving. It now provides consultancy and training, with additional markets in land spills and flood response.
Through the years
At the turn of the millennium, Briggs Marine expanded its portfolio of services into heavy moorings and AtoN refurbishment. Twenty years later, the company is now the UK’s biggest provider of AtoN management services and is responsible for over 1000 moorings and aids to navigation around the UK and further afield.
The noughties also saw the establishment of a subsea cables division that would see the company provide bespoke cable installation, maintenance and repair services to the subsea power, telecommunication, offshore wind farm export and inter-array cables industries.
This same period also saw the expansion of the company into the provision of long-term port and vessel management. Briggs Marine is now established as an expert provider of marine and port services including pilot boat services, survey vessel provision, mooring services, ro-ro terminal operation and workboat operations.
Briggs continues to expand its workboat fleet to meet client’s needs and now owns a comprehensive fleet that includes, multicats, barges, crane barges and anchor handling vessels used to support Briggs projects as well as being available for charter.
The Future is Green
Now with a firm footing in the renewables industry, Briggs Marine currently holds framework agreements with just under 40 wind farm operators for cable repair services.
The company’s recent purchase of a CTV vessel, saw Briggs further cement its relationship with the offshore wind industry which has been complemented by a recent walk to work provision for NnG for which Briggs sourced and converted a suitable vessel.
Briggs Marine’s investment into the renewables industry includes the acquisition of a majority stake in ARB WIND in 2021. The inspection, testing and certification business, together with Briggs’ marine expertise and project management capabilities, creates a partnership that offers a complete maintenance package for wind farms.
Crossing the boundaries
Whilst Briggs Marine is well positioned to provide support to offshore wind operators in the UK, the company has also grown internationally over the last fifty years and now boasts operations in the Caspian Region, the Falkland Islands and, with the acquisition of “Foreshore”, Canada.
The signing of a collaboration agreement with Horizon Ocean Management (HOM) to provide an O&M consultancy and service provision also sees the company enter the Japanese market.
Reflecting on the last fifty years Collieson Briggs, Managing Director of Briggs Marine, summed up what he deems the success of the company: “Briggs Marine has stayed relevant to the market whilst ensuring it remains competitive, all the while sticking to its original values. We focus on delivering comprehensive solutions to our clients to minimise risk exposure and enhance competitive edge.”
For more information, please contact:
Erica Skoukine
Marketing Associate
Seaforth House, Seaforth Place, Burntisland, Fife, KY3 9AX
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