My Business: Richard Sargeant, Offshore Wind Strategic Development Lead

Can you tell us about Intertek?

Intertek is a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide. We go back more than 130 years, and today we reduce risk for consumers, brands and organisations in every sector around the world. With 45,000 employees across more than 1,000 locations in over 100 countries, we enable global and local companies to overcome the quality, safety and sustainability challenges they face every day. 

What does Intertek do?

We go beyond testing, inspection and certification (TIC), providing our ‘ATIC’ advantage – Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification. Our assurance solutions help companies identify and mitigate risks, making their businesses stronger, more resilient and more sustainable. My job is to do that in the world of offshore wind,

How is a day in your role?

My role combines customer-facing work, researching new projects and supporting colleagues who want to grow their skills in this industry. We focus on specific application areas, such as inspection of key components and equipment on order at a manufacturer or vendor. This is a core service provided by the division in which I work. We work closely with customers’ operations and maintenance teams to inspect critical areas such as offshore wind farm foundations, assessing weld quality, corrosion and marine growth. Our services are wide-ranging, and assembling expert teams to deliver them makes each day unique.

I run an in-house offshore wind working group, and it’s rewarding to see more colleagues joining to help the company unlock its potential in specialist inspection services. The role involves frequent travel, which I enjoy – especially offshore site work. There’s always something new to learn; lately, I’ve been exploring microbiologically-influenced corrosion in wind farm foundations.

What’s your favourite part of working at Intertek?

The customers. I’ve worked in offshore wind for years and it’s one of the friendliest, most collaborative industries there is, with common goals and genuine enthusiasm to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges: energy production and environmental conservation.

What is one of Intertek’s strengths?

Our global network of technical personnel. I’m the in-house subject matter expert for offshore wind and am lucky to have exceptionally knowledgeable colleagues to call on around the world. The expertise and experience that our global team have collected is incredible. That translates to peace of mind for our customers.

What makes you excited about your work?

The offshore wind sector is unique and challenging. Nature’s unpredictability, downtime costs, and the complexities of working at heights or subsea make my work fascinating.

Issues such as scour, corrosion, and lightning strikes affect operational assets, while planning involves environmental assessments, avifauna management and navigating bottlenecks. I enjoy analysing these challenges so my Intertek colleagues and I can better support customers – our priority is to proactively pre-empt potential issues wherever possible. I also like demonstrating our technical credibility – whether from our experienced personnel, innovative technologies or both. It’s rewarding when everything comes together and the customer is happy.

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