Rory McKenzie,
Business Development Lead

What does your career growth and journey look like to date?

I began my career working as a project manager in the oil and gas industry, specialising in specialist cleaning and waste management. In that role, I was regularly exposed to client engagement and interaction, which I found was something I really enjoyed and wanted to be more involved in.

Understanding client challenges and providing solutions became one of the most rewarding aspects of my role, so making the transition into business development was a natural choice for me. With over a decade of experience in project management, that background has been valuable in moving into business development. I have firsthand knowledge of the challenges and issues faced in operations, which enables me to offer my expertise and advise clients on effective problem-solving.

Tell us a bit about your current position at OSSO.

I joined OSSO in 2021 as a Business Development Lead. In this role, my main responsibility is to drive the growth of our Plate Heat Exchanger (PHE) and separation offerings. I work closely with our customers, understanding their needs and finding the best ways to address them. I am particularly involved in the expansion of our PHE service offering and collaborate closely with Stuart Farman, our PHE Service Manager, and the rest of the team. Additionally, my extensive experience in waste treatment and specialist cleaning projects has provided me with valuable expertise in the separation aspect of the business and how we can best support customers there.

How is the OSSO team providing a first-class PHE service to customers?

Our purpose-built PHE Service Centre in Aberdeen provides us with an outstanding facility that can handle the complete range of PHE servicing and repair, from the very smallest units to the very largest. Geographically, we are perfectly positioned to work with a range of sectors across the entire north of Scotland, including oil and gas, distilleries, and the wider food and beverage industry.

Our team possesses an exceptional level of knowledge and experience with PHE equipment, unbeaten anywhere. This enables us to act as technical advisors and consultants, offering tailored solutions that best suit their business needs, whether they operate, for example, a distillery or an offshore facility.

We are always looking to enhance our offering to customers. For instance, we have fully trained our team in the use of thermographic cameras, which allow us to assess unit performance without causing any disruption to production. This proactive approach enables us to identify and replace faulty equipment before it reaches the point of failure, ensuring that we always serve our customers to the best of our abilities.

Preventative maintenance has become a key advantage of our offering. We maintain a database of how customer units are performing and when they need to be replaced. This enables us to support customers in planning their maintenance around scheduled shutdowns, thereby avoiding costly periods of lost production.

What do you enjoy most about your role and working for OSSO?

I got into business development because I relish the face-to-face interactions with customers and the opportunity to work as a partner in solving their problems and this area of my role is still the most rewarding. Engaging with clients across our PHE and separation offerings means that I have interesting conversations every day, and there's nothing more satisfying than successfully handing over a project to our operations teams and witnessing its successful execution!

One highlight was a recent trip to Islay, where I had the chance to meet some of our distillery customers. Exploring one of Scotland's most beautiful places and visiting these historic distilleries was an incredible experience. I would say I’m extremely lucky to be able to visit distilleries as part of my job!

The team at OSSO is also outstanding. We have a close-knit team at all levels of the business, and we operate with an open-door policy that encourages open communication and collaboration for all team members.

Is there anything you are most proud of from your time at OSSO so far?

I’m most proud of my contribution to the growth of our PHE business line. We have earned a strong reputation as a reliable PHE service company, achieving remarkable growth in the last year. Through delivering a first-class service across the north of Scotland we have been able to enhance our offering for existing customers and successfully move into new key sectors.

From my conversations with prospective customers, I can see that we are still just scratching the surface of our potential in this area, so I’m really excited to see how we can continue to grow moving forward!

Learn more about our PHE service offering.