Exclusive interview with Kevin Franklin, 3T Energy Group on the Acquisition of Survivex

Interview with Kevin Franklin, CEO, 3T Energy Group

Congratulations on 3T Energy Group’s acquisition of Survivex. Can you tell me a little more about this decision?

We are really excited about the acquisition, it fits with 3T Energy’s strategy really well and takes us to number one as a UK energy training centre. As you see, the facilities here today are top class facilities. There are some great people in here. We know Survivex really well and we’re pleased to have it within the 3T Energy fold.

There have been strong rumours of 3T Energy buying Survivex for a long time. Had this been in the pipeline for a while?

Yes, it certainly has. Whilst we have been having serious discussions for the best part of a year now, the genesis of this deal goes back to 2014 when there were discussions with AIS and Survivex back then. This strategic fit is fantastic and has been very clear from the start and this will give us some real opportunities to deliver more to our customers and be a real power in the marketplace.

The acquisition positions 3T as the UK’s largest energy sector training provider, what does this mean for the company?

It means we can offer more to our clients and our customers. We can see that we will augment the offering that particularly comes through here, through the Aberdeen facility of Survivex. We’re going to keep the name Survivex, it’s a very strong name in the marketplace but similarly there will be an opportunity to augment what we have got elsewhere in the 3T Energy business. For example, in Newcastle where we are on the case and working on that as we speak.

The announcement is part of your strategy to transform the training sector with technology. What type of technology are you using at the moment?

The technology piece is very interesting, we think it’s going to be very powerful going forward in terms of facilitating the change in the marketplace. We’ve got some really exciting stuff that we are working on, in terms of VR, augmented reality and e-learning potentially. We’ve got a very powerful TMS product already, which we can bring in to the Survivex business as well. That is very much on our to do list and something we are enthused about, in bringing that value to customers going forward.

Now that the acquisition is in effect, what are the current expansion plans? Will you be opening more offices globally?

First of all we will be augmenting the volume that we’ve got coming through here. There is further volume we would be putting through in pretty short order. We will be amalgamating the facilities we’ve got in Newcastle. A lot of the skill set we’ve got elsewhere in Aberdeen will also be put in to this facility.

Do you have any plans to diversify in to any other sectors?

We are already diversified in to other sectors but yes, we are always looking for opportunities to move in to other sectors and not just be linked for example, to the Oil and Gas sector. A lot of the skill set is similar and that is certainly on our radar. There are no immediate plans to acquire anything to do that but that’s certainly part of our long-term plans.