Independent assurance and risk consultancy Scapa Energy is celebrating more than a decade in business with a turnover exceeding £3 million, a growing client base, and a team of 25 consultants supporting high-hazard industries worldwide.
Aberdeen-based Scapa Energy was founded by former oil and gas industry professionals and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors Stephanie and Graham Walker, who have first-hand experience of the devastating consequences of poorly managed industrial risk. They launched Scapa Energy in 2014 with the mission of strengthening leadership capability in understanding and managing major hazard risk throughout organisations.
Stephanie and Graham both began their careers working offshore in the oil and gas industry – Stephanie for a drilling company and Graham with an operator. Graham’s first offshore trip was just two weeks after the Piper Alpha disaster.
They both went on to work for the Health and Safety Executive, followed by a further spell in industry. Strongly influenced by their shared passion to reduce the risk of major accidents and to help operators improve performance, they decided to launch Scapa Energy. This decision was also influenced by the growing stakeholder expectations for independent assurance by experienced teams.
Since opening their doors, Scapa Energy, based in Victoria Street, Aberdeen, has grown year-on-year and today has a team of 25 consultants supporting more than 40 clients worldwide across a range of sectors, including oil and gas, renewables, processing, gas storage, and large scale spirit distilling and warehousing.
Graham Walker, co-founder of Scapa Energy said: “We’re passionate about helping operators to manage big risk better. Having both worked offshore and as investigators for the HSE we have been at the front line of when things go wrong and have that lived experience.
“My first trip offshore was only two weeks after the Piper Alpha tragedy, and within six months, we had our own major accident when a very large and uncontrolled gas release occurred. people risked their lives to isolate the source of the leak however, the gas cloud found an ignition source resulting in a series of explosions. Those experiences stayed with me and shaped my career path. Stephanie has her own experiences, as does everyone in our team, and they have become our driving force to make sure we play our part in helping to prevent workers from being in similar situations.
“It’s difficult to believe that we’ve already passed the 10-year mark with Scapa Energy and I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to achieve as a team. We’ve built an international reputation for our practical approach that’s rooted in real-world experience. We have partnered with almost every North Sea operator and are now actively supporting more than 40 clients globally across a range of industries.”
In addition to supporting its clients, Scapa Energy is also actively involved in several industry-wide initiatives, including working with Step Change in Safety to support Process Safety Leadership Improvement Plans and with Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) to continue to influence Process Safety Leadership capability.
The company recently led one of the most extensive studies of process safety leadership in the North Sea, conducting more than 400 hours of interviews with over 250 safety leaders. The resulting insights provided an industry benchmark for leadership awareness and culture, which were welcomed by OEUK among others.
Stephanie Walker, co-founder of Scapa Energy, added: “We have been privileged to partner with leading energy and other industrial clients over the last decade and to have built a trusted relationship over the longer term.
“Leaders are stepping up to take responsibility for how major risks are managed across their organisations. However, as the high-hazard industries become ever more challenged, managing major risk becomes even more complex. We continue to see significant gaps in organisational understanding of risk and their capabilities in managing those risks. As regulatory scrutiny intensifies and workforce dynamics shift, the need for clear, practical, and values-driven process safety leadership has never been greater.”
For further information visit scapaenergy.uk.
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