F4OR is a unique service to help the UK supply chain get ready to bid for work in the offshore renewable energy sector. The objective of the programme is to support the development of an increasingly competent, capable and competitive UK offshore renewable energy supply chain – maximising opportunity for the UK supply chain, both domestically and globally.
The F4OR programme is a journey of business improvement and sector specific capability building that typically takes 12-18 months. F4OR has been developed with input from the offshore renewable energy industry.
The programme recently was awarded Runner Up for ‘Supply Chain Innovation of the Year’ in RenewableUK’s Global Offshore Wind Awards 2023.
Davood Sabaei, Programme Manager, said: “It is great news that F4OR was runner up for a Global Offshore Wind Award – and we are delighted that the programme and all the companies that have participated are being recognised in this way. Since F4OR began in 2019, five regional programmes have run in the North East of Scotland, North East of England, East Anglia and Suffolk, and national programmes run across Scotland and UK-wide – with more in the pipeline! Over 100 companies have been supported by F4OR, which prepares them for work in the offshore renewable energy market, and many have gone on to secure a wide range of new contracts.
“Our national target to generate 50GW of offshore wind power by 2030, creates a huge opportunity for the UK supply chain to grab a significant piece of this market – from design and manufacturing through to operations and maintenance of future offshore developments – and we are supporting local businesses make the most of this opportunity.”
Over 60 fantastic companies have already been supported by the F4OR programme in the North East of Scotland, and we are delighted to have secured further funding for a fourth F4OR cohort from the Energy Transition Zone (ETZ).
We are looking for 19 companies focused on entering the offshore renewables market based in Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire or Moray. Companies should have 10 or more direct employees and a turnover of at least £1 million.
The deadline for submissions is now closed.
There are a wide range of tangible outcomes created by the programme, both for individual companies and the industry as a whole. These include measurable benefits such as securing new contract wins or company growth, and softer benefits such as growing a company’s confidence in their abilities or expanding their business network.
The wider industry benefits from a more competent and energised supply chain, and an awareness of the high potential companies that will form part of the growing supply chain of tomorrow.
DOWNLOAD THE 2022 IMPACT REPORT
DOWNLOAD THE 2023 IMPACT REPORT
F4OR CASE STUDIES: LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR F4OR SUCCESSES
Due to the level of interest we receive from companies wishing to participate in the F4OR programme, all interested parties are asked to complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) form.
Following submission of this, and confirmation the applicant meets the criteria outlined above, they will be invited to complete a Capability Questionnaire and possibly a business ‘self-assessment’. You may then be requested to have a phone discussion with the F4OR team, to confirm your place on the programme. For companies which are unsuccessful in their application, the F4OR team will provide guidance on what other business support or improvement schemes might be appropriate for the company to consider.
Please note, the Expressions of Interest forms (EOIs) are completed as online forms. It is not possible to save the form midway through. Therefore, we recommend that you review the EOI form initially, but prepare any more substantial written responses offline. You can then populate the EOI online by pasting in relevant sections of text.
All EOI forms will be displayed under the individual regional programmes (see above) when applications are open.
“[Although already active in the sector] Balmoral’s move towards the energy transition was enhanced when we joined the Fit 4 Offshore Renewables programme. Over the past 20 months we have achieved granted status for F4OR and secured several contracts for offshore wind, both fixed and floating, while also seeing success in the wave and tidal arena.”
Ian Milne (Sales Manager)
“The guidance received via the Fit 4 Offshore Renewables programme has helped us focus on the key areas where we have expertise, and given us insight into the companies we should engaging with. This has undoubtedly helped achieve our impressive year-on-year growth and the securing of over £1 million of orders in offshore renewables since starting the programme.”
Nicholas Pacewicz (General Manager)
“Wozair Ltd are immensely proud to have achieved F4OR accreditation and to be given ‘granted’ F4OR status. We were keen to expand our opportunities in the offshore renewables sector as we can see great opportunities for growth in this exciting market. As a result of engagement with F4OR over the last 15 months, we have gained knowledge and a greater insight into the offshore renewables market. Moving forward we are confident the F4OR ‘granted’ status will improve our business opportunities.” Sarah Burns (QHSE coordinator)
Dr. Davood Sabaei is a Supply Chain Project Manager, currently the primary contact on F4OR .
Prior to joining ORE Catapult, Davood was a Supply Chain Specialist in Aerospace and renewable energy sector at the University of Strathclyde, employed by the Low Carbon Challenge Fund. He led on the area engaging with SMEs to help them extend the lifecycle of their assets in the aerospace and renewable energy sector and to start their journey towards achieving net zero.
He has a PhD in Manufacturing and Supply Chain from Cranfield University. He is skilled and highly experienced in the project life cycle for process improvement and new technology implementation on Supply Chain Management.
