Aberdeenshire firm ThinJack has announced a key addition to its Westhill-based engineering team.

Richard Mearns from Aberdeen has been appointed to the role of mechanical technician based at the company’s headquarters at Arnhall Business Park, Westhill.

He brings to the job skills in hydraulic systems and maintenance of controls, flanges and valves on christmas trees, completion tools and experience with fibre optics. Richard has worked in various workshop and offshore locations including New Zealand, Africa, the Far East, Europe and America.

ThinJack is rapidly growing an international track record for its revolutionary ThinJack, a steel envelope which can be inflated with up to 2,500 bar of hydraulic pressure to exert hundreds of tonnes of force, making it an ideal separating and jacking solution in hazardous, difficult or restricted areas.


The bespoke service is primarily used for the rigless separation of seized well flanges and is also used to remove concrete weight coat from pipelines.

The company is headed by Guy Bromby and Alastair MacDonald and employs five people at Westhill, for operations in the North Sea and Europe, with additional trained field technicians at its overseas bases at Melbourne in Australia, Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia and Luling in Louisiana, USA. ThinJack has also recently completed a landmark project offshore Angola.

Commenting on his appointment, Richard said: “I am delighted to join the ThinJack team at what promises to be an exciting and challenging time, and I look forward to playing a part in the ongoing success and growth of the company.”

Alastair MacDonald added: “Richard is a welcome addition to our engineering team, and his skills will enable us to deliver even more ThinJack services to our rapidly growing international network of clients.”

(GK)