North Star bolsters leadership team with first Renewables Director

Aberdeen headquartered North Star Renewables has created a new permanent senior role for offshore wind consultant Andrew Duncan to lead the UK firm’s expansion in offshore wind and increase its foothold in other green offshore energy industries.

Mr Duncan has taken up the role of renewables director having worked with NorthStar in an advisory capacity since 2019. He was instrumental in helping the business to secure its first offshore wind contract, the recently announced £270 million award with Dogger Bank Wind Farm to deliver three-state-of-the-art service offshore vessels (SOVs) for three 10-year charters. He is based at the company’s new Port of Tyne facility.

With more than 20 years of industry experience, Mr Duncan has a strong track record of successful business development and bringing offshore wind vessels to market including the world’s first wind turbine installation vessel, The Resolution, as well as crew transfer vessel concepts and operations. He also worked at RenewableUK for more than a year supporting its supply chain members.

Mr Duncan said: “It is a great honour to join North Star as a full-time member of the team and to see the sister Dogger Bank SOV builds all the way through. Every aspect of the vessel design has been to ensure comfort, performance and environmental credentials where possible using the best available technologies to also futureproof them. The success of this work has positioned the business centre stage in the offshore wind arena and it’s my intention to leverage this and grow our SOV fleet to support clients’ objectives in the UK and beyond, as well as seeking out new opportunities across the other offshore renewable industries.”

Reporting directly to CEO Matthew Gordon, Mr Duncan will work closely with the firm’s renewables division across its three locations in Aberdeen, Newcastle and Lowestoft. North Star has an existing 1,400 strong workforce and 130new full-time roles are being created for the lifetime of the Dogger Bank contract. 

NorthStar chief executive Matthew Gordon added: “The business is experiencing transformational growth following the Dogger Bank award win and with Andrew secured at the helm of the renewables team, our ambitions to capitalise on this for further growth are well on track.

“When Andrew joined us as a consultant in 2019 to deliver our new SOV fleet concept consultation paper and roadmap to help secure the contract, it very quickly became apparent that he shares our passion and vision to support the offshore workforce with sustainable, safe and reliable vessels. His vast experience and strong network will ensure all our SOV designs offer superior logistics and are well equipped with the latest technologies to enhance safety and energy efficiencies.”  

NorthStar Renewables is part of North Star Group, which also comprises North Star Shipping and Boston Putford. As well as providing continuous infrastructure support services across more than 50 UK Continental Shelf installations, the Group also provides vessel maintenance and service capabilities.

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North Star's commitment extends beyond its workforce to the local communities in the areas in which we operate. We believe in investing in local supply chains where possible and we’ve enjoyed great success working hand-in-hand with Southampton based naval architects Chartwell Marine and Great Yarmouth's Alicat Workboats. We have also employed a catering specialist team from Aramark for the new SOVs.

North Star's cadet programme, one of the UK's longest standing, invests approximately £1 million annually in training the next generation for deck and engineering roles. Continuing to attract increased female participation also aligns strongly with our diversity and inclusion goals.

During the transition, safeguarding well-being and promoting fair employment practices are non-negotiable for North Star. We remain laser-focused on upholding our employees' rights, ensuring safe working conditions, we have an open-door policy and regularly engage with our teams, as well as union representatives, listening to what their challenges are to ensure everyone’s voices are heard and interests are protected.

This is why North Star's sustainability vision, "doing the right thing for everyone," is more than a slogan; it's an assurance.