Rovco, Vaarst unite under new name

Rovco and Vaarst, two sister companies active in the offshore wind industry, on Monday announced they are merging under a new brand, Beam, to support future technological ambitions.

The firms are focused on developing and deploying AI and autonomy enabled services in the survey and subsea sector. They will have a combined headcount of over 200 people.

Rovco was set up in 2016 by Brian Allen, who later launched technology spin-off Vaarst. Allen will remain chief executive at Beam. The combined business plans to hire more than 150 new employees in the UK in the coming year across its Bristol, Aberdeen and Edinburgh offices. It also intends to add 50 jobs abroad, including 25 in the US and 10 in Asia.

“Piecemeal policymaking, supply chain issues and the rising workforce shortage have created hurdles in the green energy transition and fuelled a continued reliance on oil and gas. It’s never been more important to find ways to cut costs and project timelines,” Brian Allen said, adding that Beam will offer a unique combination of subsea AI, computer vision, sonar and autonomous advanced robotics.

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