FCm Travel Solutions’ specialist oil and gas division in Aberdeen has expanded into new premises and hired four extra staff after securing additional clients worth £18 million over the last year.

New business includes a three-year contract to provide full travel management services to KCA Deutag, one of the world’s leading drilling and engineering companies, which is headquartered in Aberdeen. 

FCm’s office in Germany has also been appointed to look after KCA Deutag’s drilling rig and oilfield equipment manufacturer, Bentec, which is situated in Bad Bentheim, and FCm Norway is servicing the company’s operations in Bergen.

FCm Travel Solutions, which has been operating in Aberdeen for over ten years and has taken over two floors of parent company Flight Centre’s new flagship store in a Grade 2 listed building on Union Street.

In addition to KCA Deutag, FCm in Aberdeen already provides specialist local travel and logistics management services to some 70 clients in the energy and marine sector.

The addition of the new recruits, means that a total of 25 staff work in small teams handling thousands of crewing movements per month, negotiating special marine fares, securing competitive offshore fares and providing 24/7 emergency assistance.

“Growth in the oil and gas sector has led to a significant increase in demand for travel logistics and expert services from our existing clients, and also enabled us to win major new clients like KCA Deutag,” commented Jo Greenfield, UK general manager, FCm Travel Solutions.

“Travel budgets are definitely going up and the majority of companies we work with are up-trading. We are also seeing a number of local oil and gas companies in Aberdeen asking us to look at servicing in other markets such as Dubai, Singapore and the USA, so that they can create consistency across their travel programmes particularly in terms of compliance and duty of care,” she added.