JENKINS & DAVIES ENGINEERING: On Time, Under Budget and Top Class, Without Fail

On the south coast of Wales, Pembrokeshire has for decades been one of the UK’s key industry hubs, and home to some of the largest, most complex refineries in Western Europe. Jenkins & Davies Engineering, reports MD Richie Barnard, was incepted based on the foresight of its founders in their bid to support such operations from a mechanical and fabrication standpoint, way back in 1969. Although the company supported all the refineries within Pembrokeshire, it became firmly established at the old Texaco refinery in Pembroke. Although it has seen a change of ownership to Chevron, and now Valero, Jenkins & Davies remain one of the main mechanical maintenance contractors on site to this day some 50+ years later.

“At that time, the business ran its operations out of some Portakabins just offsite,” Richie details of most humble roots, “before establishing our current premises at Waterloo. Today we provide a range of services to the petrochemical sector and work in routine maintenance, project and turnarounds, and are experienced in working on power generation and LNG facilities as well as mechanical services both on the harbour infrastructure and the repair of ships.

“We deliver projects on time, within budget and to a very high standard, and we pride ourselves on being the best contractor wherever we work.”

EXPORTING SKILLS

The success enjoyed by the business over its long history has helped to shield it from the inevitable dips which transpire in a changeable sector. “When the decline of the oil industry in the early 2000s arose and refineries began moving out of Pembrokeshire, the business had grown to a level of success where it had to either shrink, or further expand,” Richie describes. In 2009, Jenkins & Davies was sold, and the new owners identified an avenue of expansion for the business in terms of UK growth.

“We are now considered as the number one contractor throughout the UK and Ireland,” Richie reveals, “and the first name on the team sheet whenever issues or maintenance problems crop up. As a result, we have also gone from a turnover of between £5-6 million to a peak of £22 million, and we continue to grow.

“We were singly-owned, with no corporate or similar behind us; this meant that the investors took a real chance on the growth opportunities they could see within the business, and, crucially, its people,” he says of a risk which has clearly paid off. “We truly believe that our business is all about our people and are very proud that 60% of our workforce has come through our own apprenticeship scheme, meaning that we can instil our core values at the start of their careers. As most of our senior management team and supervision have been home grown through apprenticeships, they have then been allowed to develop their relationships with clients, and as a result we are now stationed throughout the UK.”

Given its experience, as well as the clear signs as to the eventual trajectory of oil and gas as an industry, Jenkins & Davies Engineering has made concerted efforts to diversify and branch out, Richie stipulates. “One element that we have been very strong in exporting is mechanical expertise,” he states, “especially around spade-to-spade heat exchanger works – our speed and accuracy are second to none, and with 4 Ariel Hydraulic and 2 Ariel air driven bundle extractors we are able to handle most situations when it comes to removing tube bundles in a safe and efficient manner.

“This was our first exploration into other clients outside of Pembrokeshire, and our skill in that area has engendered exponential growth in other services linked to it.

“Whilst we are confident that oil and gas will be around for the foreseeable yet, in the current climate it is incumbent on us to look to the stability of the company and its future profitability, and we are exploring further possibilities in offshore and other alternative energies, too, to give us growth and continuity of business for decades to come.”

HONESTY BREEDS SUCCESS

Already deployed across the UK, the country’s borders may not be the limit for Jenkins & Davies Engineering’s dedicated family of core staff, explains Richie. “Part of our goal is to move some of the skills that we are exporting throughout the UK into Europe,” he relays. “What we will not do, however, is overstretch ourselves as a company. The reason that our clients keep coming back to us is our honesty, and our realism, and our unmatched ability to make sure that the jobs we take on are achievable to the standard and timescale desired and agreed.”

In what can be a cutthroat business, with numerous outfits vying for such significant contracts, Jenkins & Davies continues to gain lucrative contracts and business both further afield and close to home, including at the Valero refinery in Pembroke. Richie speaks to Energy Focus on day one of a turnaround as part of a major maintenance and overhaul outage at the site. Other Jenkins & Davies teams are stationed in the midst of planning at Essar’s Stanlow refinery, with another large-scale turnaround to follow in February.

“There is one downside to being very busy,” Richie shares, “in that we sometimes have to tell clients that we are unable to support them; we take on what we can handle and successfully deliver, on each occasion, and I refuse to overstretch the company.

“Clients often tell me that this honesty is what keeps us at the forefront of the industry,” he qualifies. “The moment that we take on too much, and we are unable to put the trademark J&D ethos into the job, our offering is diluted and we become no different from some of our competitors.

“Our greatest strength is the quality of our workforce,” Richie reiterates. “A key part of our ethos is that our clients’ success is our success, and people buy into that philosophy when joining. One of the real assets of being based in Pembroke was being surrounded by skilled, productive and willing employees who simply wanted to work, and we retain that strength as we spread our wings into the whole of the UK.” Richie concludes that this peerless combination is what keeps this business and these projects consistently landing at Jenkins & Davies’ door.

“People want us back every time,” he states proudly. “Our experience, ingenuity and our efforts are what clients keep calling us ahead of anyone else. We have the utmost confidence and faith that we can deliver exactly what we say, every time, and our workmanship will be of the highest quality.”