This month we highlight Iain Murray, Vice President of Strategy & Business Development at Petrofac. Interested in meeting Iain or any of our members? Email us at info@babctexas.org for an intro.
1) Describe your company and its relationship to the UK.
Petrofac is a UK Listed Company in the FTSE 250 with 11,500 people and activity in 29 countries. We do Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Operations and Maintenance. We recently purchased a Permian based Construction and Maintenance business and are bringing UK engineering creativity and project management to the US market to offer safer, faster and more affordable project / maintenance outcomes.
2) What has been your biggest success at work, either personally or as a company/organization?
Personally, passing the New York Bar exam in July last year was a huge relief and blessing! It had been a 20 year bucket list goal. As a company, Petrofac started in Tyler, Texas in 1981 and then grew internationally. Successfully completing the acquisition of W & W Energy Services in the Permian in Oct 2019 was enjoyable – it feels like we are coming home to our original roots.
3) What does the BABC provide to you that you can’t find anywhere else?
The opportunity to be involved in increasing business activity and building relationships across two regions I have been involved with all my working life. Getting to know good people who share the same interest. Prior to Petrofac I worked with another listed UK Company for 20 years as it grew its business in the US and leveraged the best of the UK working closely with BABC. Continuing that journey for Petrofac with BABC is a unique opportunity.
4) What’s the largest thing you want to accomplish in 2020, and how can the BABC or its member companies help?
I would like to grow Petrofac’s US business and at the same time help BABC expand. BABC members can help by sharing any experience they have in the US that would help us shape what we offer and also any needs they have for support.
5) Personally, what’s your favorite UK export?
Personally, my favorite UK Export has ended up being me. 🙂 When my company exported me from Aberdeen to Houston to work in Texas in 1998, it opened up a whole new world of opportunity, both in business and personally. I fell in love with the country in the first few months and decided to make it a permanent move. I now have 4 children, 16 through to 10, who have British roots but carry American passports. Being able to live and work in Texas is beyond anything I could ever have dreamed up as a child growing up in Blantyre, Scotland. I also track down the occasional bottle of Irn Bru….