Business is booming for the new look Vikoma. Tom Stroud pays them a visit
Vikoma’s name is long established. The company will celebrate its fiftieth birthday next year, and was founded by British Petroleum in 1967 after the Torrey Canyon oil spill. It’s a world leader in the design and manufacture of oil and chemical pollution control systems. It’s also a company that is enjoying a new beginning. Last year new owners and a new management team took over the company, based at Kingston Works in East Cowes.
“This is a new start for Vikoma, with fresh ideas and new investment enabling us to grow and develop our business,” says managing director Karen Lucas. “Our engineering design team is highly knowledgeable and experienced, together with an in-house manufacturing capability and an extensive global sales network. We’re a big employer on the Island but it isn’t just our team of 58. We also utilise the services of around 80 ancillary businesses around the Island, spending a significant amount with subcontractors and suppliers of services.”
Vikoma’s customers are all over the world, with 95% of their business being exported. They design and manufacture equipment used in oil spill scenarios, manufacturing booms, skimmers and pumps which will contain, separate and remove oil from the disaster area. Vikoma supply major responders and oil companies, with equipment situated in marine and oil terminals around the world. The company moved to their East Cowes location in 2010, from Place Road in Cowes.
Karen joined in August 2014. She had worked for Strainstall in Cowes as Group Finance Director since 1994 and had a key role in a management buy out in 2000 and expanding the business with acquisitions and opening offices in Dubai and Malaysia, and growing the business until a takeover by James Fisher. In 2011 Karen moved away from oil and gas to beauty, joining Liz Earle as Finance Director. In 2014 when Karen joined Vikoma the company was up for sale, with existing shareholders looking to sell their interests.
“Vikoma was going through a period of change and quite a tough time for the business especially with the drop in the oil price. A new management team was formed and the business was restructured and right-sized while looking for new shareholders. They were challenging times, but enjoyable, and we got through it. It’s a lot of hard work and late nights. There was a lot of paperwork and due diligence to be done and a lot of presentations to make to investors. Keeping focused on running the business and securing the finance was definitely a challenge. You learn to keep your cool and stay level-headed, especially when things don’t go as planned. You have to stick to your values and belief in the business.”
In July 2015 a management buyout went through, backed by London based financial firm Agathos. For Karen a management buy-out wasn’t new, having overseen one at Strainstall. Now in 2016 there’s a new management team on board who between them have over 90 years of experience at Vikoma and all of whom have equity in the business.
“Being invested in the business means we’re all pushing in the same direction and actively working to make it a good business and to grown it. We work together and we’re transparent in the business objectives. We do have fun as well as hard work.”
The company has a new direction too. Oil prices have dropped significantly in the last 18 months so Vikoma is looking to diversify in other areas. There’s a new product which is at the patent stage and is “an exciting development and a good way of creating revenue and maintaining our market leading position”. Their new VikoSeal boom is used in ship-to-ship and ship to shore refuelling operations, and has opened up a new market area. The company is also firmly committed to staying on the Isle of Wight.
“We’ve got a skilled workforce here,” Karen says. “We can more than double our capacity in our premises without needing to move. We’ve got a really good team. Some people have over 25 years of service, others are new to the company, so we have a mix of long service and expertise, with fresh ideas being brought in. Our future is definitely on the Island. We will grow our staff base as well as our revenue over the next few years.”
When we meet, Karen has just returned from an international Oil Spill Symposium in Japan, where Karen notes there were just five female delegates out of 200. “It is male dominated industry. There are very few women in management in my experience of the oil industry. For me though gender isn’t a barrier – it’s about having the right person in the right job.”
At Vikoma around half the staff work on the shop floor with others working in sales, engineering, procurement and finance. There’s a commitment to the next generation of employees and Vikoma’s apprenticeship scheme will take on new staff in September. One employee recently completed his apprenticeship, two are in production with another two in finance and procurement. The company also works with local schools to offer work placements and supports careers events. Karen has lived on the Island since 1998, moving over after several years of commuting. Karen has also joined the board of the IW Chamber of Commerce, working with new President Geoff Underwood, the chief executive of IFPL.
“Geoff asked me and I’m really keen to contribute to the future success of the Isle of Wight and share my skills. If we can bring more focus to the manufacturing businesses on the Island then that’s great. I do really love the Island. We have relaxing beach walks and beautiful countryside but a lot of great businesses too, particularly in the technology sector. There are more career opportunities here than people might be aware of. At Vikoma we’re exporting world-wide so that stretch of water between us and the mainland doesn’t have a significant impact. The majority of our customer base isn’t in the UK so where we’re situated doesn’t matter. Our clients will fly in to London and more often than not, visit us for a day out. We’ll show them the factory, maybe a boom deployment on the river Medina, but also attractions such as Osborne House or Adgestone Vineyard. I think the Isle of Wight has a lot to celebrate. Businesses are doing great things on the Island and we have even more potential for the future.”
First published in the March 2016 issue of Island Business magazine.
