Member Article

Modus targets international growth following £2.45 million finance package

Subsea equipment specialists Modus Seabed Intervention Ltd has grown its fleet of vehicles with a £2.54 million finance package.

Funding from HSBC’s Tyne Tees Commercial Centre has been used to buy a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) - bringing the Darlington firm’s fleet to nine.

The vehicle will be used for subsea inspection, repair and maintenance, survey, drilling and general construction support.

Modus is now looking to expand the geographical reach of its services. Currently up to 85% of the firm’s turnover is generation from North Sea operations, but more recent contracts in the Mediterranean and South American signal the start of expansion.

The firm has now established representation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to target business in the Asia Pacific market.

Managing Director Jake Tompkins said: “We have added to our fleet of ROVs to react to growing market demand and also as part of our strategy to expand our capability range and geographical spread.

“The skills and experience we have gained in the North Sea market are transferrable to other parts of the world and we have already won a number of major contracts globally.

“We believe there is greater scope to export our services and we are looking at the Asia Pacific markets, the Americas and also Africa.”

Pat Dellow, HSBC Tyne Tees area commercial director, added: “Modus is a growing, ambitious company that is taking advantage of growing international opportunities to invest in its business.

“It is typical of many of the businesses I am talking to across the North East from a range of sectors. There is a true sense of optimism in the market at presence and we are helping these businesses via our £100 million SME Fund for North East companies.”

The deal was managed by senior international commercial manager Stuart Henry, with support from HSBC Equipment finance business development manager Ian Davidson.

The finance was allocated from HSBC’s £100 million SME Fund specifically for North East businesses and was secured under the bank’s Assisted Asset Purchase Scheme, with an additional £500k grant from the Regional Growth Fund.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .