FTL Seals

FTL Seals - A Projects Case Study

In quarters 3 & 4 of 2005 and quarter 1 of 2006 FTL Seals undertook a ‘Go To Market’ project through the Competitive Edge Programme. This intervention was designed to help with the development and execution of a marketing plan in order to take a proposition to the marketplace and develop new business

FTL Seals Technology Limited was formed 30 years ago and, from their premises at Morley, West Yorkshire, functions as a distributor for several leading brand sealing and bearing manufacturers.  Additionally they also design and manufacture bespoke sealing and engineered solutions to suit individual client needs.  FTL Seals employ 31 full time personnel and have an annual turnover of £5.5M.

Within FTL Seals range of standard and bespoke products is varipig, a multidiameter capable pipeline pigging system.

The Situation

FTL Seals offer a wide range of standard and bespoke sealing products as well as the varipig, and are active in a wide range of industrial sectors. They recognised that the lack of attention paid to the oil and gas industry meant that they were potentially missing business opportunities for the varipig product.  To address these issues they identified that they needed to develop a marketing plan to address this market and to obtain ‘on the ground’ prospecting and detailed knowledge of the oil and gas industry in general and of the key people working in the pipeline discipline in particular.

To provide this level of knowledge FTL Seals wanted to employ the services of an independent organisation that could demonstrate a comprehensive and established network in appropriate client companies. This then was a sales brief well summarised by the FTL Seals Sales Manager.

‘We need to meet with companies and people who have a need for our product but who we don’t yet know. We don’t want management consultancy support, we need the assistance of a company that knows the business intimately and can make these critical introductions.’

Warwick Lockwood – Sales Manager

The Solution

Following a competitive tender a contract was awarded by the Competitive Edge Programme to Logical Advantage Ltd., an independent Aberdeen based company. The following activities have been delivered during execution of this contract.

§  Workshops with FTL Seals management to understand the product and the criteria for filtering upstream projects / clients to ensure suitability for a varipig application.

§  Workshops with FTL Seals sales and marketing to explore the widest potential market opportunities and to understand their current network of contacts from previous and current work and sales / marketing activities. This workshop applied some filters to the markets to focus the FTL Seals marketing effort into the most attractive areas.

§  LAL internal presentation to communicate what the client was seeking and internal discussions to identify likely targets from LAL’s extensive network in upstream Oil & Gas companies and operators.

§  LAL worked with FTL Seals sales and marketing staff to develop a market plan incorporating attendance (and speaking platforms) at appropriate conferences and a programme of personal introductions to target organisations (most of which arose from LAL’s network).

§  Assistance and mentoring through the implementation of the plan including personal introductions

§  Assistance with design of marketing materials including updating the company web site.

§  Development and ‘Go Live’ of dedicated Varipig web site.

The Result

From FTL: The project undertaken with LAL has proved a great success from our point of view.  Within 6 months we have made more contacts in the target industry than within the previous 6 years, with this product.

We are now receiving definite enquiries and the prospects for 2006 and beyond look encouraging.

Working with LAL has allowed us to become proactive in the market place rather than sitting and waiting for enquiries.

Tony Snowdon – Marketing Director

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From Yorkshire Forward: Yorkshire Forward were delighted to provide funding for this project, through their latest Competitive Edge Programme (http://www.aemyorkshire.com), to help a leading edge technology company grow in their chosen markets. The project will generate more wealth for the region through increased sales, and the additional work will enable FTL Seals to offer more sustainable knowledge-based employment opportunities in the region.

“It was important to give FTL Seals access to a network of appropriate contacts in the up-stream Oil & Gas market, so that they could get some early wins. LAL were the perfect choice to help with this project”

John Fazakerley of PA Consulting Group – Competitive Edge Programme Manager

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From LAL: We were delighted to win this work. When we read the brief and met with Warwick for the pre bid briefing we felt that we could work well with the FTL Seals team; they have a great product and their approach to business is refreshing. So for us to be able to facilitate so many positive discussions between the FTL Seals guys and clients that are really interested in knowing about their capability has been a real pleasure. Dave and Alistair have over 40 years of oil and gas experience between them, they know the market in Aberdeen and London. To be able to use this knowledge for FTL Seals has been a real win-win.

We have undertaken similar activities for other organisations and would be really interested in working this way again, maybe for other clients in Yorkshire via the YF AEM programme.

Tom Kennedy – Managing Director (Collabro)

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This project was part funded by the European Regional Development Fund through Yorkshire Forward's Competitive Edge Programme, managed by PA Consulting Group and delivered by Logical Advantage Ltd