Restructuring efforts at offshore engineering specialist Royal IHC are said to have paid off, bosses point to in the firm's latest set of accounts. Following a raft of cost saving measures - including downsizing of its workforce in recent years - the maker and renter of offshore energy equipment such as pipe and cable-laying systems and trenching kit pointed to a "turning point" in its fortunes.
Newly published 2024 numbers for Royal IHC Limited show the Newcastle-based business broke even on a pre-tax profit basis, compared with a losses of £5.3m the year before. That came despite a fall in turnover from £39m to £20.8m and a slide just back into operating losses, this time of about £79,000 compared with an operating profit of £279,000 the year before and operating losses as wide as more than £42m going back five years.
From its city centre Grey Street offices and Port of Blyth production facility, the Dutch-owned firm designs and builds orders for customers in the energy and defence markets. In recent years it has endured a difficult period including losses and a significant shrinking of its workforce from more than 200 to about 114 - though that number is now growing again.
Having brought its headcount in line with production volumes, Royal IHC said the market for new offshore assets is currently strong. Last year the firm completed a cable tensioner and was commissioned to build an advanced modular cable lay spread and subsea vehicle.
Meanwhile a four tracked subsea trencher - the Amphibious Hi-Traq Jetter - was completed during the year. And new work included a project requiring collaboration with teams in India, and an order for a large, tracked trencher, for delivery in 2027.
Meanwhile a cutting edge fibre optic cable laying vessel built by the firm's parent company will be equipped with cable lay and burial equipment made by the North East business, including a ‘Sea Stallion FibrePro’ plough, a launch and recovery system, and a full cable lay spread. Equipment for this vessel will be designed and built next year at the Port of Blyth facility.
Director Derk te Bokkel wrote in the accounts: "Following the restructuring and cost-saving measures of 2023, progress was made in improving financial stability, and by the end of the year, the company was in a more stable financial position. Improved market conditions and strategic decisions helped to rebuild customer confidence, reinforced by key contracts. With a steady influx of new orders, positive market expectations and promising opportunities in the flow business, the company is now steering towards sustainable growth.
"In 2024, further operational and organisational improvements were made, focusing on financial control (calculation and cost allocation), reducing organisational complexity, strengthening market positioning, and enhancing risk management at an early-stage of tenders and proposals (bid-no-bid decision making). These initiatives are overseen by the strategy team, comprising members of the management board and business directors."
A spokesperson for the company said new orders had driven some recruitment in 2025 with expansion in the workforce locally in the past nine months with more vacancies to be filled later this year.
The firm said: "Among our newest recruits are three graduate engineers and three apprentices. Two of these apprentices joined us from the newly established Energy Central Campus in Blyth – a Northumberland Skills-led vocational training facility helping young people prepare for apprenticeships in the North East’s thriving offshore energy sector.
"Royal IHC Ltd remain committed to investing in local talent and early careers development, helping build the skills needed not only for our business, but for our region’s future."
