170 1 July 2024 Success Stories
EIC Survive & Thrive 2024
EIC Survive & Thrive 2024
111 Success Stories July 2024
Story type
Special Piping Materials Passing a test of resilience and diversification to overcome a challenging period Les Buckley
Founded in 1989, Special Piping Materials (SPM) has supplied the oil and gas industry with exotic stainless steel products, including duplex and super duplex, pipes fittings and flanges. With a reputation for quality and excellent service, SPM is now firmly established on almost all approved vendors lists of oil and gas companies and EPC contractors. Recently, all industries have had to respond to the difficult conditions caused by COVID and the war in Ukraine. The price of raw material almost doubled, which had a far-reaching impact on the whole supply chain. However, SPM continued to re-stock, although on a smaller scale, allowing the company to continue to be profitable through those two to three years. One of SPM’s main strengths is that it is open 24 hours per day. Offices and warehouses are located in England, Scotland, Singapore, Australia, the UAE, Brazil and the US. Now, in 2024, conditions have stabilised, and SPM can move forward. Due to a strong cash flow, in 2022 it was able to diversify and create a new company: Special Metric Materials Ltd. The challenge - The renewables sector and global warming have made it clear that the future of oil and gas is limited. Although the market for new products like lithium (for batteries) and the progression of FPSOs is still strong, SPM searched for a way to diversify. Water treatment has proved to be the right answer. The sector was a great fit because the product is still stainless steel pipe, fittings and flanges – but in metric and ISO thin wall sizing, in contrast to SPM’s core products for oil and gas, where the products are generally imperial, with a heavier wall thickness. The solution - So, Special Metric Materials Ltd (SMM) was established in 2022, a sister company to SPM. SMM is built to serve the water treatment and business services sectors. The experience and know-how of SPM, a similar model of company, carrying stocks of pipes and fittings, has expediated the process. The operation requires competitive pricing and next-day deliveries. High quality product goes without saying. To help with the transition, SMM hired an experienced specialist and built a relationship with a Scandinavian manu-
Benefits ▸ Significant supplies of piping materials to a lithium plant being constructed for Tesla. ▸ Revenue forecast for 2024 at £60m.
Key findings
CEO
How is Special Piping Materials thriving?
#diversification (main category) #collaboration
facturer of metric stainless steel welded pipes and fittings – OSTP – one of the world’s leaders of this product. Together with OSTP as a partner, SMM supplies the water, process and building services sectors with key items such as metric and ISO stainless steel piping systems, a range of Tru-Bore®, ISO and hygienic materials. David Garratt, a director of OSTP, commented: “SMM is one of OSTP’s key partner distributors and stockholders in the UK, for welded stainless steel metric Tru-Bore® products and in addition welded ISO and ANSI pipes and fittings. Their progress in the last three years has been impressive and we look forward to supporting them in the coming years”. The success of SMM arrived quickly. In 2023, the company, in its second year, was profitable. 2024 is extremely busy and the future is looking bright with over 100 customers on the books. In-house projects include supplying the materials, through contractors, for football stadiums. In June 2024, SMM is moving premises to a 52,000ft² unit. More stock will follow, and the size of the unit will enhance its ability to provide an even better service. Meanwhile, after just over two years, SMM’s headcount is now 15 and growing. Indeed, several factors have contributed to the rapid success enjoyed by SMM so far. Starting from scratch with an experienced manager, and a staff who knows the product inside out, has expediated the whole process. Teething problems have been eliminated earlier than usual. Alongside SMM, SPM continues to flourish. An interesting project is ongoing – supplying the stainless piping system for a lithium plant being constructed for Tesla. Desalination plants also use super duplex, a material which is used where brackish water is present. It should be noted that material carried in stock by SPM is tested in accordance with NORSOK, ISO 17781 and provided by M650 approved manufacturers. Combined, the two entities are forecast to generate almost £60m of business in 2024, with £9m of that coming from SMM. With two successful brands, the organisation is set up to thrive in the coming years.
For industry ▸ Recognise who are the potential key figures in your business and provide the right incentives and work environment to allow them to flourish. ▸ Understand the importance of cash flow, especially when in the stocking and manufacturing business. For government ▸ Lower corporation tax to allow businesses to grow and invest.
Special Piping Materials at a glance: Key products and services: stockholder and supplier of piping components. Main industries served: ▸ Oil and gas – 80% ▸ Nuclear power – 5% ▸ Others (non-energy): water – 15% Headquarters: Dukinfield, UK Year established: 1989 Number of employees: 80 Revenue: £45m Revenue from exports: 80%