Local Company, Global Reach

AFTER six months with Hydratight parent company Actuant, Chris Mitchell knows what is meant by the term "global player"...

Hydratight's newly-appointed global marketing leader Chris Mitchell has, in many ways, grown up in business with Hydratight.

After building a sales career in naval and commercial nuclear power generation, particularly with American clients, the 35-year-old, Buffalo NY-born, football-fan and father of two small children joined what was then Hydratight Sweeney from Energy Steel in 2002, to expand the company's growth in that area.

As he joined, Hydratight was beginning its rise from small but leading bolting and jointing specialist firm to major world player in oil, gas and powergen service industries - a growth accelerated further by its acquisition by billion-dollar world player, Actuant.

Chris who studied finance and business at James Madison in Virginia and St Joseph's, Pennsylvania, was involved at Energy Steel in major naval and powergen nuclear projects. He rose to become Hydratight's global powergen leader - and early in 2008 left to spend six months at Actuant's corporate HQ in Wisconsin. There he took on the challenge of learning and applying the continuous-improvement tools of the LEAD office.

He returned to Hydratight in January in his new role as global marketing leader, with greatly renewed enthusiasm despite the increasingly challenging face of world economics.

"Hydratight is just starting to capitalise on being a global company; not just in terms of having offices all over the world, but in acting like a global company," he says.

"We are growing up as a company and need to capitalise on the good things we do in one region by translating it into success in other regions, all the time recognising there are differences in markets and cultures."

The word "global" can be misused, admits Chris, a keen follower of world news both for work and as a wider interest.

"It's one thing to have offices in several countries, but it's quite another to have those offices adopting cultures and practices specific to the region.

"Ultimately that's what a lot of truly global companies want from Hydratight: the assurance we are a global player too, that we understand that business in the US is different from business in Kazakhstan or China. And they definitely want to be sure our quality and service are the same, wherever you operate.

"The one thing about people in the oil, gas or powergen is that they travel. They have a project in one country then they show up in another. They need to know that what they get from you in Singapore is the same as they had in Norway or the US. This is one of the things Hydratight is striving for: global standardisation of company quality, culture and output, but empathy with the local market."

This wider-looking shrewdness has already begun to pay off, he says: "You only need to look at what has been achieved in the two years since Actuant came in.

"We have grown over 400% since I joined in 2002. That's a huge leap in a short time. We're fortunate to be part of the Actuant family, which has allowed us to acquire companies to get deeper into existing markets, as well as into new ones. But the push is coming beyond just acquisitions. It starts from within Hydratight; there is so much room for us to grow in each of the big sectors.

The company is now concentrating on growing from its oil and gas origins into a wider solutions provider, deeper into not only that sector, but also markets like powergen, subsea, aerospace and industrial.

"Our strength is our dedication to quality and service: we don't lose sight of that, despite moving on to a bigger stage," Chris acknowledges. And he believes Hydratight's dramatic expansion can continue, despite the global downturn.

"The world crash has had an effect on every company," he admits, "and if it hasn't yet, then it will. All companies have to address that things are changing around them."

"What it has helped Hydratight to do is to recognise that getting the fundamentals of our business right is the key to weathering the storm. Admittedly, we may be in markets that remain pretty buoyant. But we are far from immune."

Chris reckons strong leadership is the key to the company's continued success: "Phil Maxted and the leadership team constantly focus the organization towards the things critical to our success. We are concentrating on moving forward where we can and blocking those areas that could be difficult. We are focusing on offering products and services we're best at. In a way, we're getting back to basics."

Hydratight's fluidity in the market means the company might be drastically different 10, or even five, years from now, Chris believes.

"If you had said two years ago that Hydratight would be what it is today then no one would have believed you," he said.

"Hydratight, even a year from now, might look quite different because we are always looking to expand, not just geographically but in the products and services we offer. In 10 years, who knows what we could be?

"The way to weather the economic downturn is to think ahead: anyone who isn't doing that is going to be washed out fairly quickly in the coming couple of years.

"There isn't a market that isn't susceptible to the downturn and it is causing people to question how they are doing business - to make sure it's the best way.

"In essence, it's what we're doing at Hydratight: it doesn't mean you stop looking to grow, or you stop doing: you just do it smarter."