The 'whirlwind' career adventure of EEEGR chair Kevin Keable

In the summer of 1979, as an apprentice at George Prior Engineering in Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth, I started working on the repair of trawlers and the construction of dive support vessels.

In September, I began my course at Lowestoft College, now East Coast College, which was a one-year, full-time programme in mechanical and production engineering.

The detailed training I received on lathes, milling machines, in the foundry, in the electrical workshops and on theoretical knowledge around metallurgy and mathematics was invaluable to me for the rest of my career.

The next 18 months saw me working on diesel engines, gearboxes and hydraulic winches, in very much a hands-on role.

For the second 18 months, I moved into the drawing office where I learned to draw ship’s hulls, design engine room layouts and firefighting systems. I learned about the commercial side of the business, too.

Many people who now work in the energy industry trained as an apprentice at Lowestoft College (Image: Kevin Keable)
At the end of my apprenticeship, I spotted a small advertisement in the Eastern Daily Press – Nowsco Well Service was looking for technicians.

Hired in November 1983, a whirlwind ensued. I was soon travelling to Aberdeen, the Netherlands, Germany, Qatar and Thailand to work at various onshore and offshore locations, using high-pressure nitrogen and helium to test systems for leaks – dangerous stuff in the wrong hands.

The maths I had learned at college was a critical skill, it was needed most of the time and on all operations.

In 1985, my wife Karen and I were posted to Stavanger in Norway for three years where, despite my colleague’s brilliant English, I learned to speak Norwegian, a skill that still comes in useful, including a recent presentation at the Norwegian Ambassador’s residence in London.

As supervisor of the leak testing department, I carried out a mixture of technical offshore roles, sales and training that helped me immensely in my next role in Northampton working as a project manager on pipeline pre-commissioning and testing.

Post the Piper Alpha disaster, there was a requirement for emergency shutdown valves on all major gas pipelines in the North Sea, so I was put to work running an R&D and implementation project, working between the UK and Alberta, Canada.

My next mission was regional manager of the Asia Pacific region, developing an existing business over an area covering more than 50 million square kilometres!

With no internet and only a copy of the Yellow Pages and a few magazines, I built the business in Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, New Zealand and Thailand.

For the next few years, continuing this work, I was stationed in Thailand, Aberdeen, back to Singapore and then finally Australia before moving back to the UK with our two-year-old son, by which time I had been head hunted by BJ Services, which then purchased Nowsco, so I was soon back working with my old colleagues.

Some of the equipment Kevin worked with in north east Thailand in 1984 (Image: Kevin Keable)
With nearly 15 years of international experience behind me, I was chosen as managing director of Baker CAC, a manufacturing company where I oversaw the financial and operational rescue to prepare it for sale. As a part of that, I signed a large contract with George Prior, my first boss.

This was when I first heard about the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR).

Finally, in 2003, I realised my dream of setting up my own business – Oilennium was born. I was asked to deliver some training, on the back of which I set up a training business and soon switched from classroom development and delivery to online.

Within a few short years this was very successful, developing courses for mostly oil and gas companies, from HR and health and safety to finance, drilling, pipelines, construction and fracking – in multiple languages for many companies.

Thanks to an excellent team, the growth of the internet, some very creative technology and with the support of EEEGR, we did things differently and very well – and in 2012, Petrofac came along and purchased the company.

In 2016, myself and Karen started to look at planning permission on a piece of land we owned. In 2018, we were granted planning permission to build a small estate of 15 self-build houses.

I managed the infrastructure development, while Karen designed and built our house. The plots were all sold quickly, and the development at Long Four Acres Avenue, which won an award in 2019, is nicely finished and a great place to live.

Kevin testing an explosion proof barricade in 1984 (Image: Kevin Keable)
Roll on to 2023 and looking for the next opportunity, I heard about this vacancy at EEEGR – a chance to give something back to the energy industry that has given us so much opportunity and adventure.

I was offered the role, and eight months on I have been responsible for lots of change, as I aim to ensure that the energy industry, our members, local authorities, government, schools, colleges and universities embrace the changes needed to develop not only the infrastructure, but the manufacturing bases, services, maintenance and skills required for the next phase of the development of the energy industry.

My entire career has been built on the foundations of being an apprentice in this region. The skills and knowledge I acquired back in the ‘80s have been integral for myself and many others throughout the past several decades.

The East of England holds a unique position in the UK and worldwide. Through collaboration and promoting the leading-edge companies and people here, we can be a strong player in the road to NetZero and energy security.

If we can develop more people in this region as I and many others were developed, we can continue to be a strong economic and social force in energy.