Archer Knight makes key appointments to bolster expansion plans

Archer Knight, the subsea market intelligence and consultancy specialist, has made a series of key appointments as it welcomes an exciting period of growth for the company.

(L to R) Derek Beddows, Ross Macdonald, Oliver Thompson, Fernando Lopez, David Sheret, Mike Watson

On the consultancy side of the business, Derek Beddows will become Director of Diving Safety & Services, as the company looks to recruit additional diving technical resources to meet demand.

Meanwhile, following the launch of Archer Knight’s software-as-a-service platform Flowline earlier this year, a number of appointments have been made in the market intelligence part of the business.

Ross Macdonald, who manages Archer Knight’s research and analysis team, now becomes General Manager of the company’s market intelligence subsidiary AKMI. He will have full profit-and-loss responsibility for the subsidiary and head up its market intelligence and software development functions. Ross will report to the Archer Knight directors and sit on the board as an attendee – presenting on all matters relating to AKMI.

In turn, Oliver Thompson, becomes Market Intelligence Manager, responsible for day-to-day management of the market intelligence team, assisting Ross and the directors on consultancy projects.

Meanwhile, as Archer Knight prepares to add further resources to its software development team, Fernando Lopez, has been promoted to Senior Software Developer.

David Sheret, Executive Director and Archer Knight co-founder said:

“This is an exciting period of development for our company and despite the challenging climate we have plans to expand in the UK and internationally. Our team is an essential part of this growth and these four promotions will go a long way to helping us realise our potential.”

Speaking about the new appointments, he said:

“Derek’s appointment is driven by successful delivery. We are now supporting five clients domestically and internationally and we need to resource the service accordingly to meet current and future demand. Derek is best placed to hand pick the team, ensuring we continue to deliver an uncompromised level of service.

Mike Watson, Executive Director & Archer Knight co-founder added:

“Ross has been an integral part of our success over the last three years. He’s a highly capable, professional, and conscientious individual and we’re confident he’s ready to make the step up. “Oliver has only been with us for a short period of time, but it was clear from the start that he was an intelligent employee who was ready to take on more responsibility. We believe he has all the attributes to become an excellent manager and we’re excited to see him develop further.

“Fernando took on a huge responsibility when he became our first in-house software developer. He’s thrived under the pressure and shown an outstanding level of commitment and self-learning since he joined. He’s more than ready to take on the additional role of supervising the team as we grow this department and, like Oliver, we believe he has tremendous potential – it’s up to us to provide the opportunities that allow this to happen while building the business.”

This year, Archer Knight launched its software-as-a-service platform Flowline. The platform is designed to make it easier for subsea companies to win more business. It uses analysis from Archer Knight’s in-house team and data from a 50,000-strong global network of contacts to deliver a detailed, real-time view of the subsea market.