Edinburgh drone specialist sees headcount double to over 100

Cyberhawk has also increased its yearly revenue by 51 per cent in 2020 after growing its footprint in key international markets.

The firm now has more than 100 staff members based in the UK, India, Qatar and three offices in the United States.

Its growth has been driven by a surge in demand for its drone-based inspections and asset visualisation software, iHawk. The company has secured several contracts with major players across the oil and gas, power grid and construction sectors in 2019 and 2020.

Significant contract wins include signing a new five-year agreement in early 2020 with one of the world’s biggest state-owned oil and gas producers in the Middle East.

The firm also supported a major US utility firm with inspections of more than 50,000 transmission structures in California as part of its critical wildfire prevention and reliability campaign.

Chief executive Chris Fleming said: “Although we can all agree it has been a challenging year, our business has proven to be resilient.

“I’m proud of our team, especially of those who have continued to work out in the field throughout the year for months on end, away from their families to deliver customer projects with unwavering levels of energy and enthusiasm.

“It is this dedication that has seen us help our customers maintain critical inspection services and ensure energy supply throughout the coronavirus pandemic, helping to keep the lights on and heat millions of homes and businesses.”

The firm anticipates further growth throughout 2021 and beyond as it eyes new contracts in the energy and construction sectors.

Cyberhawk has also appointed Ursula O’Brien to the role of chief people officer to “help develop and nurture new and existing talent”, as well as drive employee engagement as the group accelerates growth.

O’Brien joined the company from Ventient Energy, the largest independent generator of onshore wind energy in Europe, where she held the role of head of human resources. Prior to this, she was vice president of human resources at Wood Mackenzie.

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