Businesses from across Cumbria and the north west packed The Forum in Barrow to explore how to make the most of a swathe of major developments in Furness and beyond.

The Furness Energy Forum, hosted by Furness Economic Development Forum, took place last Tuesday.

The Forum was a chance for about 200 representatives from local and national companies to learn how to capitalise on and supply major projects such as GSK’s new biopharmaceutical factory, in Ulverston, and BAE’s mission to build a replacement fleet of nuclear submarines.

Stuart Klosinski, programme manager for the FEDF, told The Forum that other major opportunities included the decommissioning at Centrica’s South Morecambe gas terminal in Rampside and Cumbria County Council and Barrow Borough Council’s joint Waterfront Business Park development.

BAE alone used 1,000 suppliers across 444 UK cities, he said.

Major employers like this presented opportunities for contractors in Cumbria to not only supply them, but to “supply their suppliers”.

Presentations were given by technical and engineering recruitment specialists Morson Group, as well as Cumbria Chamber of Commerce and accommodation providers, Corrie and Co and Maritime Apartments.

The main speaker was Bill Cattanach, head of supply chain at the Oil and Gas Authority.

Barrow mayor Councillor Tony Callister said: “The infrastructure and investment coming into Barrow is absolutely fantastic and I am like a kid in a candy shop.

“With the elite people in this room, hopefully we can do this town proud and move forward over the coming years to a very positive future.”

Paul Hulse, business relationship manager for Torkington Engineers in Manchester, came to the event to find out about opportunities for his company, which carries out precision engineering.

He said he had some conversations at the event which had led to potential future openings for work.

He said: “For me these events aren’t so much about the speakers, but about the opportunity to get together and network with people.

“It’s a free event and all I have to do is get here, so it’s a win win really.”

Mr Cattanach said firms in Barrow and Cumbria were perfectly placed to take advantage of developments in the market.

He said it was his job to influence “big spenders” to make use of local UK companies in their supply chain.

He said: “What I have heard here today has really blown me away in terms of what capability there is here. There are lots of skills here that could be used in the oil and gas sector.”

He said there were 250 undeveloped gas and oil fields around the UK, many of which were due to be re-licensed for exploration. This included areas in the Irish Sea.

“They have got quite a lot of resources in them, but a lot of them are quite challenging,” said Mr Cattanach.

He said it was important to find innovative solutions for accessing these fields and developing solutions to problems. Methods to extend the life of infrastructure like drilling rigs and reducing the cost of drilling were particularly in demand.

There were also big opportunities to develop techniques for decommissioning existing oil and gas platforms in a safe and environmentally friendly manner.

Mr Cattanach said: “We’ve got to be at the top of the technology tree and we are not going to get there by selling rope, soap and dope.

“You have got people here who can design weapons systems that can shoot a rocket out of the air and they are the kind of people that we need working in the oil and gas sector.”

He said suppliers in the UK also needed to move away from the mindset of trying to offer things at the lowest cost and instead focus on delivering best value overall.

Analysis by the Oil and Gas Authority of 58 UK projects over five years had revealed only 25 per cent were delivered on time, with an average overspend of 35 per cent.

He said the size and location of businesses in Cumbria meant they were well placed to offer good value for money - something which was especially important with the price of oil remaining low.

“It’s never going to be as good as it was when we had the really high prosperity in 2012 and 2013,” said Mr Cattanach.

“I don’t know if we will get there again. $50 oil seems to have been here for a while and I think there’s a realisation it is going to be here for a long time or forever."