Precise Consultants: 2020 in review

We sat down for an interview with our founder and director Peter Thompson to discuss how 2020 has been for Precise Consultants. Read more to find out!

How was this year for Precise Consultants?

In a word: challenging! The last winter had been a tough one – quite stop and start – and then just as the season kicked off, Covid-19 hit. It got pretty tricky doing what we do really quickly. But while the first few months were concerning, it was amazing to see how the team internally reacted to what was considered an existential threat to the business by working harder than they’d ever worked before to maintain the level of service to our contractors.

Covid-19 has been a real worry for businesses – so many well-run ones have collapsed, in tourism, hospitality, retail and through no fault of their own in many cases, some have gone to the wall. But we’re in an industry that’s been Covid-resistant. As the Summer kicked in, we felt incredibly grateful that offshore wind was one of the industries that managed to crack on throughout with minimal disruptions.

It’s been really rewarding as much as it’s been challenging. We’re a stronger company because we’ve had to look at how we’re moving forward. We’re all on the same page and, with the added good news about the vaccine, we’re excited about 2021 and beyond.

What are you grateful for this year?

I’m grateful we were able to get through without furloughing people or making knee-jerk reactions. We stayed together and we were rewarded by the team by the commitment they showed. We’re lucky in that the vast majority of people who work for us now have worked for us for years and they knew what they were doing, and I trusted them to work from home.

Even though our office has been where we all worked together and therefore had a community spirit before, we didn’t lose this when we had to work remotely. I saw how much care and concern the team has for each other and if anything, the team spirit is higher than it’s ever been.

How has Covid-19 changed use of digital and automation technologies at Precise Consultants? How has it affected the industry?

Covid-19 has accelerated changes that were in process – internally we’ve seen a huge shift to facilitate our remote working and react quickly to the vast amount of changing circumstances for our people  who are working in very challenging circumstances all over the world.  

Externally it’s been a massive shift too to remote processing, project support services, projects being operated remotely – it’s all been flying ahead, and those changes are here to stay within the industry. That’s fantastic because of the cost-savings they offer projects – which is so important.

It’ll be interesting to see how quickly a clear path for upskilling is agreed. There are a few early adopters who are very interested in how to set remote working practices up and they’re very busy as a result. But the majority don’t know what to upskill in at this point, and clients are still figuring it out too in terms of their own processes – one will do it one way, another does it differently. But upskilling will become even more important and that’ll provide some people with opportunities.

Longer term, how do you see the legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the oil and gas industry?

You look at all the talk about a green recovery and it’s obvious that this is where the focus will be. The UK government is looking ahead to COP26 in November as well and with renewable energy being a big focus for the Biden administration, the Prime Minister will want to forge better relationships with them – pushing this green agenda is a win for that.

So offshore wind and other renewables are in a sweet spot at the minute and not just because of the carbon impact. They create a huge number of jobs, the potential for people working in operations and maintenance is huge.

But you know – O&G has been through a lot and it is still here. I think we’ll see more companies playing both sides, encouraged by the divestment agenda of many investment funds as well as looking to get in on the new money being invested into renewables.

The new year will bring major changes in the UK, a potential no deal Brexit and the introduction of IR35 in the private sector, how is Precise preparing for this?

The same way we prepare for everything! By looking at how it’ll impact our clients and contractors and designing out response around minimising those impacts.

In the New Year we’ll be bringing in support around IR35 so while I can’t go into details now, it’ll be a major help to our clients and contractors. And Brexit has both disadvantages and advantages. It’s about being prepared for whatever is agreed and whatever terms we end up with.

What are your top priorities for next year?

I have two:

Hiring and expanding our team is a key priority. And making sure that as we grow, our service levels which allowed us to get to this level of growth are continued. That’s something that’s client-focused but also supporting our people too, to help them achieve what they want from their careers with us.

Get a vaccine and go on holiday – I’d really like to book a flight that doesn’t get cancelled this year!