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Aberdeen-based Tim Eley, who has held roles with many major players in the oil industry and is a board member of Decom North Sea, joins HFI as a business development consultant, while Clint Elgar has been appointed oil and gas business consultant. Clint, who is a well-known figure within the EPC word, has been based in the Middle East and South East Asia for over 20 years.

HFI founder and managing partner Hugh Fraser said: “Our network of highly-specialised consultants, each an expert in their field, continues to grow at pace, giving our clients access to high-level knowledge and understanding of the successful execution of international business expansion projects.

“We are exceptionally lucky to have two candidates of the calibre of Tim and Clint on board, having initially built relationships with them in the original incarnation of HFI.”

Tim is a sales and business development specialist with over 25 years of experience in the UK, Norway and Middle East. He launched his own company, Timely Intervention Ltd, in 2005 and also holds business developer roles with OSBIT Ltd and Prezioso Lingebygg.

He’s regarded as having one of the most diverse network of contacts within the North Sea, operating in drilling and well intervention, IMR, subsea engineering, renewables and decommissioning.

Tim recently represented HFI and OSBIT at the SPE/ICoTA Annual Well Intervention Conference in Aberdeen, and was a key player in the ITF Hackathon for Decom North Sea. He said: “It was an incredibly interesting event, where several oil majors openly spoke about the problems they have in decommissioning their North Sea platforms in the hope of discovering solutions.

“The transparency in the room was really significant and showed commitment to working together to reach solutions. I think that’s one of the key strengths that I can bring to HFI: I am exposed to many Scottish and Norwegian companies that have technology already being used in the North Sea and that want to expand their reach into the Middle East marketplace.”

Clint, a chartered chemical engineer specialising in upsteam oil and gas, was the CEO and founder of Global Process Systems – a process equipment and surface facilities firm which he built up to be worth US$500m – and is a former president of Kvaerner for the Asia Pacific region.

He is a key player in the formation and ongoing development of the Pergas – a consortium set up in 2000 to respond to a gap in the Iranian market for surface and sub-surface oil service companies.

Clint, who is a member of a number of professional bodies, has extensive experience of international business expansion projects, having delivered such initiatives across MENA, South East Asia and the former Soviet Union.

“I moved to Dubai from South Wales at the age of 22, and in the intervening years I have built up extensive experience and connections not just in the Middle East, but in other parts in the world,” explained Clint.

“The one stand-out business lesson that I have learned in that time is that connections in this market are by far and away the most important thing. It could be said that connections are important in any geographic location, but due to the culture in the Middle East, it takes time for people to become familiar with you and to get to know and trust you.

“Investing the time and effort into making connections – and using the expert knowledge of the consultants linked to firms like HFI – is absolutely critical for any company or enterprise that wants to be in MENA for the long-term.

“You many have the best price, the best service, and the best delivery but if you do not have the connections, you will never show how good you are. In general, the people here respect and trust those who have remained through the ups and downs and who continue to survive.”