Nobody could argue that Robert Arne moved into his role as business leader of Hydratight's Gulf of Mexico sub-region at an incredibly challenging time.

Robert took up his new post in December year: the global downturn was getting into full swing, many businesses were cutting back, downsizing their operations and generally trying to save as much operating expense as they could.

But the downturn reckoned without Minneapolis-born Robert's focus and drive - qualities that had taken him from accountancy studies to financial chief of engineering company Enerpac in two decades, then to operations finance director for Enerpac and Hydratight's parent company Actuant, in 2006.

Now his job in Hydratight's Gulf of Mexico region - part of Hydratight Western Region - is to expand into a part of the world previously little explored by the company.
It's a huge area: basically the Caribbean rim, from Louisiana and Texas, south into Mexico and across the top of Latin America to Trinidad. Luckily he's no stranger to travel - his job at Enerpac took him all over the world, and he keeps his hand in with regular trips to Trinidad and the New Mexico operation in the Gulf of Mexico.

Despite the global slowdown, Robert's expectation is of significant growth in sales and rentals this year, and major inroads into the service side of the business.

"We see the Gulf region as a clone of the British operation," he says. "Our colleagues in Britain helped us to develop our plans along the lines of their own model and it's a very simple one: consider safety first and then offer the best equipment and the best service.

"Hydratight really does offer top-quality equipment. We are most easily differentiated from our competitors by the quality of the tools. Time after time, clients cite their quality and performance, and they're coming back to us again and again.

"Alongside this quality we can now offer great service - so far our major effort in the Gulf has been to expand and improve our service operation."

Plans have already seen the reorganisation of acquired companies Superior Plant Services (SPS) and Patriot - tool rental and service specialists - and the consolidation of their smaller distribution facilities into a 9,000 sq ft rental and service "superfacility" in Orange, Texas. Further, after following the LEAD process to use space more efficiently, the Deer Park facilities were able to accommodate the Cortland operations and eliminate additional third-party facility leasing costs.

This is one of three superfacilities in an area bounded by Orange, on the Louisiana-Texas border Deer Park in Houston and Gonzales, Louisiana, from which sales, rentals and service teams will be available round the clock. The facility in Trinidad and the new operation in Mexico will allow comprehensive coverage of the entire region.

"Bringing in SPS was key to the whole Hydratight drive in the region," Robert explained, "The acquisition allows us to be a significant player able to provide sales, rentals and engineering services and it allowed the previous SPS operation to grow much bigger."

Having set up the logistics of the Gulf operation, Robert is well aware his plans have to battle against the downturn.

"It has been a tough six months, but in fact the core rental and sales business is doing well; we are seeing double-digit growth because our product is so good," he revealed. "It's the service side that's facing the worst effects of the recession. Gas prices are lower, refineries are trying to reduce expenses by delaying projects or closing plants, so these are challenging times.

"But we are looking at opportunities to develop our business and have recently made market share gains. We are pushing hard: the point is we have consolidated our operations and planned for a leaner, faster, more service-focused future in the region. Now we can press ahead to grow, regardless of the economic climate. We have undergone major reorganisation, so we could develop and expand rather than simply stand still.

"The potential growth of next five years is extremely good; what is happening at the moment needs to be considered as a temporary blip, destructive though it is.
"I see us expanding deeper into Latin America, since at the moment we merely scratch the surface, and our new Mexican facility gives us new opportunities to grow the business in what is to us a very familiar market.

"So yes, it's a competitive landscape from a service point of view, but there is plenty of room to grow - and we are ideally set up for it."