Douglas-Westwood Completes its 500th Project
Energy business analysts Douglas-Westwood Limited recently completed their 500th project since formation in 1990. The work was for Scottish Enterprise, a key client for the firm since its beginnings.
Brian Nixon, Head of Energy for Scottish Enterprise said “The Energy Team at Scottish Enterprise has worked with Douglas Westwood on a wide and varied range of energy studies and sector analyses, and we enjoy the very professional relationship that has been developed over many years. We look forward very much to continuing these activities with DWL.”
“It was a particular pleasure that our 500th project was for Scottish Enterprise, an organisation who was one of our very first clients,” said John Westwood.
Douglas-Westwood was established by John Westwood who is well known to many industry veterans from his 12 years in the subsea business as a founder of the world’s first commercially successful work-class ROV operator. He sold out of that business to pursue a growing interest in market analysis, becoming something of a serial entrepreneur and eventually forming Douglas-Westwood. Nowadays the firm operates from both the centre of the ancient city of Canterbury, England and Aberdeen, Scotland.
Douglas-Westwood is renowned for its work in investigating areas of the energy industries which have limited transparency, examples range from the Russian onshore oilfield services industry to the world market for oilfield maintenance, modifications and operations (MMO) services.
In addition to its commissioned analysis, Douglas-Westwood developed a series of published market studies of high-growth industry sectors, such as in ‘The World Deepwater Report’ which is now in its sixth edition. Following the developing sectors theme they also moved into renewable energy market forecasting, publishing ‘The World Offshore Wind Report’.
Their largest client base is the financial community for whom Douglas-Westwood conducts market due-diligence on oilfield services industry IPOs, M&As and financing deals. In 2006, the Aberdeen office was opened and is headed by director Andrew Reid formerly of Ernst & Young and investment bankers Simmons & Company.
Reid is responsible for the firm’s ‘transaction services’ where in the past three years alone Douglas-Westwood has completed market due diligence on deals totalling $7.5 billion. This includes the £319 million IPO of Wellstream International, and many more including the $925m acquisition of ABB Oil & Gas then formed into Vetco International. “We have been fortunate over the past 18 months in building our franchise with the UK and international financial community that has led to our involvement in a significant proportion of energy related deals globally,” he said .
Onshore oil & gas, both upstream and downstream is also a growing area for Douglas-Westwood. In 2007, its largest source of business was Russia, with work supporting clients’ IPOs on the London stock exchange including that of Eurasia Drilling and Integra – Russia’s largest independent drilling contractor and service company respectively.
The firm's services are also being increasingly used by players in the growing renewable energy sectors.
Today, the firm’s services are also increasingly sought by some of the energy industry’s largest corporations to assist them with formulation of business strategies and facilitating corporate strategy. In many instances the common challenge firms face is having reached the position of global market leader and facing the issue of ‘where to next’? “I suppose that where we differ from a conventional management consultancy,” said John Westwood “is that we will only accept engagements from companies working in markets we know and understand.”
Douglas-Westwood’s energy industry “advisory services” are often used by government agencies and energy departments and sometimes even presidential offices!
Douglas-Westwood has become renowned for its business advisory and strategy work in the energy industries, having served investment banks, energy industry players and contractors the world over, gaining clients in 37 countries. However, it remains a highly specialised advisor, clearly focussed on markets and has strongly resisted the temptation to morph into yet another ‘management consultant’.
