UK Marine Winch Manufacturer Romica Strengthens Team

UK winch manufacturer Romica has appointed three new senior managers to strengthen its services in the marine and offshore industry.

Beverley, Yorkshire headquartered Romica is one of the world’s leading designers, manufacturers and suppliers of lift equipment and winches. Its products are used within the marine, renewables, ports and terminals, oil and gas and oceanographic sectors.

It provides a 24/7 build, repair and maintenance service worldwide with agents in South Korea, Taiwan, India and Spain.

Romica’s team has now been bolstered by the arrival of technical director, Sarah Turner, North East and Scotland business development manager Iain Fullerton and UK project manager Adam Springall.

Romica owner and Managing Director Bob Turner said the expansion signals the firm’s ambition to expand in the UK and overseas.

“Sarah Turner is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and past winner of the Armstrong Prize at Newcastle University. Sarah has spent the last seven years with Deep Ocean and before that worked for DUCO and the engineering business, now part of the IHC group. We believe that she will provide the technical impetus for the company’s growth.

Iain joins us with a wealth of experience having worked in Aberdeen’s oil and gas sector for more than 40 years for major offshore engineering, construction and survey companies. Adam Springall, meanwhile, joins from Fugro to head up Romica’s project management delivery. These appointments bring considerable experience and skill to Romica.“

Sarah said she is pleased to join Romica as one of the best known winch manufactures in the world.

“Romica has clear and distinct selling points which set it apart from competitors, she said. “Not least the depth of expertise of its team. This has enabled the firm to position itself as a market leader with a unique range of products, which is a highly stimulating proposition from a technical services and compliance perspective.”

Iain said: “Romica and Bob have a formidable track record within the industry,” he said. “I will be raising awareness of that experience and critically the way Romica works as a trusted partner. Romica is not on the outside it works as part of our clients’ teams which is why it has so many long term customers. Instead of giving an off the shelf product Romica will listen to what the client wants and deliver a bespoke solution. That collaborative approach to problem solving gives Romica a real competitive advantage.”

Adam said: “Romica has an excellent reputation for its world class products. This is a terrific time to be joining the business because it has so much potential to grow and expand. The firm benefits from a strong track record in maritime, and we will be using this expertise to target the broader manufacturing, engineering and construction sectors.”

The three new starters will join Martin Barker-Platt in Romica’s Hull office, who has responsibility for developing client relationships and Claire Garbutt, Romica’s office manager.

Bob Turner said Romica has maintained a strong market position by keeping manufacturing costs low and engineering quality high.

“Like the majority of the big players in the sector we have moved our manufacturing operation overseas,” he said. “We established a manufacturing hub in Romania 13 years ago which draws on a large maritime engineering skills base enabling us to undertake a broad variety of work. The last 12 years have seen Romica develop as a world leading manufacturer of marine lift equipment. This has been based around a strategy of developing relationships with survey operators and investing time helping them find optimum solutions for the handling of their survey systems. We believe that despite the downturn in oil and gas activity we can pursue a similar strategy in other sectors of the marine and lift equipment marketplace.”