The Channel issue 8

The ChannelA Renaissance Services SAOG Group Newsletter volume 0 issue 8

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The Channel is a digital monthly internal

newsletter produced by Renaissance

Services which aims to reach every

employee in each country of our worldwide

operations. Please do forward this to your

fellow team members and thank you!

Topaz signs new term loans

NTI voted 2nd best in brand survey

NHI achieves IiP certificate

Group companies going green

CSR initiative recognized

Topaz Events

NHI hosts celebrity chef

UMS organizes Al Mar’a fest

Topaz Engineering wins contract

Topaz Engineering secures an EPC

contract from Fujairah Refinery

Company, to complete construction of

pipelines interconnecting the Port of

Fujairah facilities for Oil Terminal 2 and

Oil Terminal 1.

Renaissance launches new site

The corporate site is upgraded with a

new look and many newer functions.

Contract Services on Safety drills

CSG operations at PDO South have

achieved a year with no LTI. Saif Al Ali,

HSE Officer, explains how and why

Safety is a daily practice and part of the

Renaissance culture.

CEO Message

Excerpts from Warren Bennis’

Becoming a Leader of Leaders.

Upcoming Highlights:

Happy New Year!

Also Inside:

In-house tournament at PAC Qarn Alam

Renaissance wishes you a break-through year! Please view our

e-greeting card: http://www.nibblesoman.com/greeting/christmasgreetings/greeting_blank.htm

Financial Highlights

The Channel - issue 8 - December 2009

Topaz Engineering awarded multi-million dollar engineering contract

Topaz Engineering has recently secured a multi-million dollar, EPC contract from Fujairah Refinery Company,

to complete construction of pipelines interconnecting the Port of Fujairah facilities for Oil Terminal 2 and Oil

Terminal 1. Fujairah Refinery Company Ltd is jointly owned by Vitol Group and the Government of Fujairah.

Topaz Engineering will have nine months to complete the design, supply, fabrication, installation, testing and

pre-commissioning of white oil and black oil piping works with pigging facility along with allied electrical and in-

strumentation works. Topaz has executed projects of similar scope and volume in the recent past and considers

this latest award an opportunity to strengthen its project execution capabilities in Fujairah.

In early September, Topaz Engineering was also awarded a multi-million dollar project by the Port of Fujairah

for construction of top side facilities at Oil Terminal 2. The company has had operating experience in Fujairah

since 1981, along with its ability to provide comprehensive solutions, high HSE standards and highly competitive

commercial terms make it a frontrunner for major projects in Fujairah.

Topaz Marine’s continued investments program in its fleet expansion and

modernization program has seen its OSV fleet cross the 100 vessel mark this

year. The company employs a prudent vessel acquisition strategy that restricts

any speculative buying other than in technological or geographical niches.

Topaz secures US$ 42 million long term loan facility

Renaissance’s wholly owned

subsidiary, Topaz Energy and

Marine, has closed a long term

financing deal of US$ 42 million

(Rial 16.2 million) from Standard

Chartered Bank, Dubai.

The funds will be used towards

the post delivery financing of

Offshore Support Vessels (OSV)

and also will be used to fund future

capex program in the company’s

offshore fleet expansion program.

In light of the financial environ-

ment the new long term funding

facility illustrate the company’s

robust operations, assets and

balance sheet, and reinforce the

willingness of international and

regional banks to partner with

Renaissance.

The long term facility also

matches the company’s policy to

fund its long term asset develop-

ment with a matching long term

loan profile. This cautious strategy

provides reassurance during the

current global economic downturn

and has allowed Renaissance to

acquire new investments from a

safe and secure standpoint.

During the year 2009, the

company has invested over US$

150 million (RO 57.8 million)

mainly in assets in its growth areas

in offshore vessels fleet and build-

ing of workforce accommodation

facilities in the Oman’s interior

oilfields.


From the CEO Leadership Series

Rethinking the Future

This is a collection of quotes I have put together from Warren Bennis,

Professor of Business Administration at the University of Southern California,

and management guru.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a slave to management gurus – unlike them, we

have to get up in the morning and actually get the job done! But they are useful

reference points to guide us and affirm what we are doing. The précis is made up

of direct quotes and is designed to capture the essence of the writer’s message.

We have found this a useful stimulant for debate and creative thinking in driving

change within the Renaissance journey.

Stephen R. Thomas

CEO

Renaissance Services SAOG

Becoming a Leader of Leaders – Warren Bennis

The major challenge for leaders in the twenty-first century will be howto release the brainpower of their organizations.

What leaders must learn to do is develop a social architecture thatencourages incredibly bright people, most of whom have big egos, to worktogether successfully and to deploy their own creativity.

Twenty-first century leaders will also have to make sure that they areconstantly reinventing the organization too.

But the point is, how do you deploy your workforce so that it iscontinually moving around and changing jobs, so that, rather thandownsizing the organization, we can start reinventing it and creating newopportunities?

Tomorrow’s leaders will have to learn how to create an environment thatactually embraces change, not as a threat but as an opportunity.

Warren Bennis also defined what he sees as the required attributes ofleaders:

• A strongly defined sense of purpose. • The capacity to clearly articulate a vision • It’s about living the vision, day in day out. • Generating trust

You’re never really going to get anywhere unless you risk and try, andthen learn from each experience.

What effective leaders are going to have to do is to create not just avision, but a vision with meaning.

The vision has to be shared. And the only way that it can be shared isfor it to have meaning for the people who are involved in it.

Federations work better than monolithic organizations because, alongwith strength, they offer the degree of flexibility we need to deal with theseturbulent times.

Leaders of federations don’t think of their associates as ‘troops’. Andthe associates don’t think of their leaders as generals. The leader of thenew federal corporation has to be a leader of leaders.


Renaissance Values:

Health, Safety &

Environment

(HSE)

We commit to drive and

foster a strong HSE

culture throughout our

organisation. To protect

the health and safety of our

people and all those

affected by our activities.

To protect the environ-

ment, minimize wastage

and pollution, and ensure

efficient use of natural

resources. To provide a

safe and healthy workplace

for our employees and

contractors.

To learn more about

our values please visithttp://www.renaissance-oman.com/en-

GB/About_Renaissance/Values.aspx


Renaissance launches new site

The corporate site has upgraded to a modern look and

feel with much higher capabilities and technical facilities. The

site will also feature as a medium for current employees to

receive large files and medias, such as video and and audio

clips, which feature group heads. New sections such as

HSE and Investor Relations are targeted to different

readers who seek information specific to their search. The

site is also designed to pull and analyse visitor information,

inviting visitors to subscribe to specific RSS feeds or email

alerts. Please share your feedback of the new site :

www.renaissance-oman.com.

GREEN

Subsidiary companies partner with environmental projects

Topaz Energy and Marine has recently joined the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG), an NGO working to promote

environmental awareness. In collaboration with EEG, Topaz has started a recycling program in five of its facilities in Abu

Dhabi, Fujairah and Dubai, which are collecting plastic, aluminium cans and paper. Just a few months ago, Topaz

formally launched its mission to go green in an initiative entitled Topaz Earth.

The National Hospitality Institute (NHI) has joined Clean Up the World, which partners with the United Nations

Environment Programme. NHI’s initiatives will range from waste removal and tree planting to water and energy

conservation projects, and will empower the Omani community to "clean up, fix up and conserve the local environment".

If you have an idea that you would like to share with us, please mail to [email protected]. It is through the great

people within this company that our organization can respond to the significant issues of our times. We must all do

our utmost to protect our planet and the life on it. Renaissance encourages you to start making a change today.

LOCAL

SQU Nurses express gratitude

The Sultan Qaboos University presented Renaissance

Services with a token of appreciation this month in

recognition of the financial support that allowed 34 out of a

total of 48 nursing students to venture abroad for two month

training programs. The College of Nursing started sending

students abroad for internship in 2006. The objective of the

program is to provide opportunity for the interns to intensify

their clinical competences, clinical judgment and critical

thinking skills in providing comprehensive nursing care and to

develop an insight into the differences of work culture in a

foreign environment. Three graduating batches have gone

so far to different countries and this is the second year that

Renaissance lends its support to this training program.

CEO Stephen Thomas with SQU officials and graduate nurses


In this month’s issue of Oman’s

Business Today magazine featuring the

Best Brands of 2009, Renaissance’s NTI

(National Training Institute) is rated as

the second best in the private education

provider category.

Out of 424 respondents, Majan

College ranked first, while NTI and

Caledonian College tied for the second

position. Majan and Caledonian are both

academic institutions and cater to

students (90%) and corporate and

government sector employees (10%),

whereas 100% of NTI’s clientele comes

from the corporate and government

sector. Keeping this in view it is indeed

creditable for NTI to be rated as the

second best in Oman and first amongst

the vocational training providers.

LOCAL

NTI ranks second top brand in Oman’s Education Sector

NTI’s clientele comes from the Cor-

porate & Govt. sectors, ie. adults,

who “understand” training, are seri-

ous about the quality of delivery and

are able to apply the knowledge and

skills learnt, at their workplace.

NHI Achieves the Investor in People Standard

The National Hospitality Institute (NHI) celebrated its achievement of the Investor in People (IiP) Standard once again

having maintained this since 2003. NHI successfully passes the lengthy and challenging international assessment of the

IiP Standard for the third time.

Investors in People have grown to be the UK’s leading people management business improvement standard because

it delivers improved performance to thousands of organisations. Currently almost seven million employees in over 35,000

organisations have achieved Investors in People recognition.

"Investors in People is an excellent tool that can be used to identify ways of elevating our organisation’s performance

and as a framework for continuous development. This recognition is not obligatory in our line of business, however NHI

endeavours to be a pioneer in the business of people development and demonstrate our commitment to delivering qual-

ity internationally accredited training in hospitality in Oman,” said Robert MacLean, Principal of NHI.

The British Ambassador was at NHI to present the IiP certificate

SAFETY

CSG unit marks 1 year no LTI

Congratulations to TISCO’s PDO South

Integrated Services team for achieving one

year without a Lost Time Incident this

month! We caught up with Saif Al Ali,

TISCO’s HSE Officer for PDO South and

is responsible for overseeing the Health,

Safety and Environment operations for a

team of 365 persons. Because of Saif’s

background in the Royal Army of Oman, he

has the ability to make a broken leg or

burnt arm simulation appear all the more

realistic, which is why his staff are some-

times the last to learn that a staged drama

was really a Safety drill.

How do your staff and team implement HSE training?

To start with it is mandatory that each person goes through an

induction in HSE that is taught at an internationally approved

institute by the government and client. Also, I conduct regular

in-house training such as Hazard Identification, STOP for

Safety, emergency drills, and so on. For example, I’ll identify

one of the scenarios in the HSE plan such as ‘Worker slips on

oil in the kitchen’, and organize with a few managers to create

this dramatic scene. The staff is not told that this is a drill and

they believe it to be a real incident. I’ll observe where their

strengths and weaknesses are and after the exercise we get

together and discuss the notes. Sometimes even the client

will think it is real and they get involved.

How often are people reminded of HSE?

Daily. HSE is a daily practice, every morning each department

will get together and talk about a different subject related to

safety. Any circular that gets sent around covering any type of

accident that takes place, even if it’s not in the PDO camps, or

mails that are sent from the head office, we get together and

discuss it. We believe that if an incident or accident happens

somewhere, it could happen to us, especially if we don’t talk

about it or alert the people to it beforehand. When people

know the root cause of an incident, they can avoid it. With

daily discussions, the safety performance of the workforce is

greatly improved. Also, our managers regularly attend HSE

programs put together by clients and contractors, and we

share this knowledge across the board.

Is Contract Services’ PDO South Operations and PAC

(Permanent Accommodation for Contractors) operations

the same thing?

Quite the opposite, they’re two different contracts. PDO

(Petroleum Development of Oman) contracts the PACs from

Renaissance Contract Services, which Renaissance owns

and operates, for its external contractors. On the other hand

PDO has its own sites for their employees, which

Renaissance Services also provides life-support services for,

such as dining, maintenance, housekeeping, and so on.

Images from a Safety drill simulation on site

Safety is part of the Renaissance culture. Every single day worked safely means that everyone on our team

is working diligently and efficiently, causing no harm to ourselves, each other and all those affected by our

work. Working safely is a demonstration of love, honor, responsibility and respect for all our families and loved

ones – because it means, however long our shift or tour of duty, we get to go home safe and unharmed to

those who love us and rely on us.


Topaz Events

Topaz Energy and Marine participated in the Annual Dinner organized by the

Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) and Annual

Marine Ball which was organized by the Nautical Institute. The two events were

held in the first and second week of December. The events bring together

engineers, seafarers, scientists and technologists involved in all aspects of, and

disciplines in, the marine industry from above water to subsea. Both the events

are held every year and Topaz is a regular participant in them.

Established in London in 1889, IMarEST is the leading international

membership body and learned society for marine professionals, with over 15,000

members worldwide. The IMarEST has a strong international presence with an

extensive marine network of 50 international branches, affiliations with major

marine societies around the world. The Nautical Institute is an international

professional body for qualified seafarers with an interest in nautical matters.

Topaz Marine MENA, part of Topaz Marine was an exhibitor in the SAOGE

2009, the 2nd Saudi Arabia International Oil & Gas Exhibition & Conference. The

Exhibition was held at the Dhahran International Exhibitions Center in Dammam,

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Contract Services Group holds in-house tournament

PAC Qarn Alam held an in-house tournament for all on site last month to boost recreational activities and living on site.

Tournaments are held annually and at all PACs whereby employees for groups and compete against each other in fun

and games.

UMS organizes Al Mar’a festival

Al Mar’a magazine held it’s annual festival dedi-

cated and conceptualised for the woman of today. The

all-ladies festival aims at bringing women from all

walks of life together, at one venue, in the spirit of fun

and camaraderie. The event was graced by guest of

honour Her Highness Sayyidah Tania bint Shabib Al

Said, president, Environment Society of Oman.

NHI hosts celebrity chef

Celebrity Chef Frederic Bourse visited the National Hospitality Institute (NHI) as

a part of his recent tour of the Gulf Region. The chef spent 4-5 hours in the kitchen

with the Gulf Chef School team, showcasing recipes such as Passion Fruit and

Raspberry Tartlets Soufflé, Tropicana Verrine and Golden Truffles.The object of

the session was to be interactive and not just a demonstration, therefore he asked

for assistance from a number of students in preparation which they thoroughly

enjoyed.


Documents

The Channel issue 8