STAFF and managers at a pipeline pigging firm are marking its 35th year in business with a strong order book and plans for high tech innovations.

iNPIPE PRODUCTS, which was founded in 1984 by Ken Hemingway after a lifelong dedication in the field, has grown from a 20,000 square foot site in Colburn, North Yorkshire, to its current state-of-the-art facilities on a six acre site with a 60,000 square foot production and testing facility in Brompton on Swale.

The company, which now employs 56 people, successfully secured its first patented product in 1986, an omni directional intrusive signaller which continues to be a market leader.

Exporting more than 84 per cent of all orders to major clients across six continents, including the likes of Aramco, Centrica, Shell, Esso, ConocoPhillips and Subsea 7, the company is a world leader in pipeline pigging, maintenance and testing products and developing bespoke solutions.

iNPIPE PRODUCTS worked on what it believes to be one of the largest pigging projects in the world recently. The company was commissioned by a South Korean conglomerate to supply a first of its kind integrated solution including cleaning tools, loading equipment, launching equipment together with integrated tracking which is now being used on some of the world’s largest pipelines, measuring 90 inches in diameter.

Since the successful delivery of that project, the company has received several enquiries to complete additional projects on a similar scale.

Managing director Simon Bell, who played a major role in the company’s management buyout and relocation in 2013, said: “We have a proud history of innovation and we have constantly evolved our products and services to suit the ever-changing market conditions and needs of our clients, which we believe has played a significant role in our success to date.

“With a healthy order book for the next 12 months and the business is receiving a growing number of enquiries as we benefit from green shoots of recovery in the oil and gas sector, we have great expectations for this next year to be one of our most successful to date.

“Our technical pigging experts have also been very busy developing and expanding our product range and, as such, we look forward to making some exciting announcements in the coming months.”

For the second consecutive year the business has also achieved a RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Award in recognition of its commitment to raising the standards of health and safety management.