Mike Meade’s offshore broking shop M3 Marine Group has brought in VesselsValue’s Robert Day to run its new London operation.
M3 Marine (Offshore Brokers) UK (M3OBUK) will begin trading on Wednesday with the valuation platform’s former head of offshore as managing director.
The company will focus on the offshore and renewables sector as a subsidiary of Singapore-based M3.
It is also in the process of recruiting another broker in London.
TradeWinds reported last week that Meade was setting up in the capital to capture growing demand.
Day told TradeWinds: “Initially, it will be a lean team at M3OBUK. Myself as managing director (and broker) and another broker whom we are finalising by the end of this week.”
He added that the new venture has a far greater scope as part of the larger M3 Marine group of companies than brokerages of a similar size.
“We will continually assess recruitment opportunities, but always being mindful that any new hire/hires must be assessed against both actual business need and economic viability. The first six months to a year are about keeping business operations lean and agile,” the managing director said.
“We are a small privately owned shop and have a different focus than the larger, and shall we, say more public shops. Our focus is on customer satisfaction in our specialised field,” Day added.
Day has almost a decade of experience in the sector and ran VesselsValue’s offshore desk, specialising in valuations, broking, market analysis and business development.
He believes that with such strong recent growth and sizeable investment in the energy sector, now is the perfect time to be a part of the M3 Group’s UK expansion.
Playing to its strengths
“Building on the expertise that has seen M3OB Singapore become the leading offshore broker in Asia, M3OBUK will focus exclusively on the offshore sector, offering a key strategic advantage,” Day said.
“By focusing on what we know, and what we do well, M3OBUK will play to its strengths to offer clients a level of intel and service that far exceeds a simple transactional broking experience,” he added.
M3 chief executive Meade said: “M3 Marine Group is gaining a rare industry expert to drive its growth out of Singapore onto a global platform.”
“As the first key hire for the newly launched London-based M3OBUK, Robert brings with him an impressive breadth of knowledge across the offshore landscape as well as a fresh perspective on the market. Robert has a strong worldwide network and exceptional depth of expertise, which we are confident will add immense value for our customers,” he added.
