DeepOcean, a global subsea services company, is set to move its UK headquarters to a new base in Darlington.
The company specializes in engineering and marine works solutions for large subsea cable projects associated with offshore wind farms said that it has reached an agreement with Darlington Borough Council to relocate from its existing premises in the town to the top floor of the GBP 8.5 million (USD 11 million) Feethams House development.
DeepOcean also has a center of engineering expertise and offshore maintenance facility in Blyth, Northumberland. DeepOcean is highly active in offshore energy markets, particularly oil & gas, offshore wind as well as subsea internet cables.
Feethams House will also provide a base for DeepOcean’s subsea trenching and seabed intervention division, Enshore, with staff working between Darlington and its facility at the Port of Blyth in the development, maintenance and operation of the world’s most advanced fleet of underwater trenching vehicles.
Enshore is also pioneering the development of technology to harvest subsea minerals, which will play a vital role in sourcing clean metals for batteries in the latest generation of electric vehicles.
Feethams House is an £8.5m office complex in the heart of Darlington town centre. The five-storey building, adjacent to the DL1 leisure complex, has been funded by Darlington Borough Council, the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority and the European Regional Development Fund.
The Grade A standard building offers accommodation for small and medium businesses in the professional services, digital and creative fields. Work on the 30,000sq ft building is scheduled to be completed by spring.
Pierre Boyde, Managing Director of Enshore, said: “The North East continues to grow in strategic importance for DeepOcean and Enshore, and this new office will support the continued development of our activities. We have always benefited from the excellent talent pool in Darlington and the wider North East and this new office will also further help us attract people to work at DeepOcean from beyond the region.
“Our vision is to be the world’s leading subsea services provider. We are excited by the tremendous opportunities in the offshore wind industry, both in the UK and further afield as well as rising to the challenge of sourcing metals from the ocean floor in an environmentally sustainable way that supports the transition away from fossil fuels to a low carbon economy.
“Feethams House provides a long-term, sustainable location from which to grow our business and will allow us to also continue to benefit from Darlington’s excellent transport links, which very much supports both our domestic and international operations.”
Councillor Heather Scott, leader of Darlington Borough Council, said: “We’re delighted to welcome DeepOcean as the first tenant in Feethams House. It is a company that has been in Darlington for a long time and has been looking for a new office location for a while. This is a signal of the confidence it has in this new building, and in the town and we wish them every success in the future."