A battle plan for growth

Bergen based BSA Offshore brought their project and aspirations of a new business unit into our growth programme in 2018 and reached their goal of establishing BSA Energy Limited in the UK.

BSA had the ambition of establishing a company in Scotland and become a leading provider of specialist personnel and a preferred subcontractor for EPCI and marine contractors, but were not sure about how to approach the expansion, avoiding the pitfalls and risks involved in penetrating a foreign market.

– Among the concerns we had was how to recruit the right “UK team”, how to optimise funding and how to transfer our culture, our “DNA” so to speak across borders, says Jan Richard Finne, CEO of BSA Offshore.

An immersive learning experience

Finne and his colleagues Eirik Haugland (CFO/COO) and Vidar Strømsnes (COB/PM), decided to work with the project through our growth programme 100ScaleUPs.

The programme offered them an immersive 12-week learning experience with insights from a world-class faculty at MIT Boston, experienced business mentors, investors and peers. A thorough scientific and business-oriented evaluation of the company, business model, strategy and growth potential were executed.

– Although the establishment actually took place two years after our original 100ScaleUps battle plan, due to both Brexit and COVID-19, I do not think we would have done it with such success without the methodical approach we learnt through this programme, explains Finne.

BSA Offshore can check off on several of their growth-goals:

• Establishment in Aberdeen with local business partners
• Qualified organization and team with local network; 6 employees and generates $2.36 million in sales (USD) (conservative budget 1st year)
• Supported financially by DNB and RBS
• First delivery was Q2/21

– Of course, much remains to be done as we are still in the establishment phase, but we are very pleased with the status after about eight months in business in the UK, Jan Richard Finne concludes.

Finne recommends the 100ScaleUP programme to companies who are ready to take the company to the next level and has the management resources, technology and competence to really grow and internationalise.

Recruiting candidates for the 2022 programme

GCE Ocean Technology is currently recruiting new companies for the fifth edition of the 100Scaleup programme, and will host a seminar about this in April - please contact kai.stoltz@gceocean.no if you want to join the event or would like to apply to join the 100ScaleUPs programme.

The programme is a collaboration between BI Norwegian Business School, Kongsberg Innovasjon, Stiftelsen Teknologformidling, Martin Trust Centre for MIT Entrepreneurship in Boston and GCE Ocean Technology and it is funded by Sparebanken Vest.