Sponsorship

Opportunities

Opportunity for
AYP members to
be mentored by
Aberdeen
business leaders

12 month

20 APRIL 2016
AYP MENTOR
SCHEME
TH

programme

Award for top

mentoree at AYP
Ball 2017

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
The AYP mentor scheme will offer its members a fantastic
opportunity to compete for a place with leading business figures
from the City and Shire.
ABERDEEN YOUNG
PROFESSIONALS

www.aypgroup.co.uk
@aypgroup
#aypgroup
#aypmentors

Established in 2009, Aberdeen Young Professionals is a networking

group aimed at young professionals who either work or are based in
the Aberdeen area.

Inspiring the next generation.

Aberdeen Young Professionals (AYP) is a voluntary networking group founded by Ross Jolly in 2009.
The group is run by a committee of volunteers and aim to provide events for our membership that
provide a platform for their development and also to meet people they may not have had the
opportunity to do so.

AYP Mentor Scheme

The AYP Mentor scheme will allow our members to spend time with leading business figures from
Aberdeen City and Shire. The format is as follows:
1. Application Launch our 5000+ members will all be contacted to see if they wish to compete
for 40 slots at the Event Launch which will be held on the 21st April at Trinity Hall, Aberdeen.
2. The AYP committee will review the applications and select the top 40 applications and provide
an invite to attend the launch night.
3. The launch night will have Aberdeen Journals in attendance together with our media partner
MB Productions to film the event and also take numerous stills for promotional material later on.
4. A guest speaker and MC for the evening will introduce each mentor who will then provide a
quick overview of the mentoree they wish to work with.
5. The 40 finalists will each be given a number at the registration desk and will bring their CV with
them in order to provide a three minute pitch to each mentor in order to win a place with the
mentor of their choice. Each mentor will provide a top three as will each potential mentoree.
The remainder of the Launch Night will allow for informal networking.
6. The mentorees that are selected will be announced and promoted through a media campaign
with a 6 month review meeting being held. Regular social media updates will be released via
our channels to follow the progress of the mentors and mentorees.
7. A mentoree of the year will be announced at the Aberdeen Young Professionals Ball (March
2017) in conjunction with the Press and Journal, providing further opportunities for our
sponsors of this event.

Meet the Mentors

Heather Sharkey
Commercial Director EC-OG
Heather has twenty one years of multi industry experience namely
eight years in Retail, three in Oil and Gas, two in Property, seven in
Construction, one Self Employed and now back in Oil and Gas.
Heather possesses a sound commercial background, particularly
robust in value and process engineering, as well as a proven track
record managing client interface, corporate social responsibility and
fit out elements of multi million pound construction projects.

Finlay Johnston
Marketing and BD Manager Diamond Offshore
Aberdonian Finlay Johnston has a true desire to help young
professionals develop and expand their career within the Oil & Gas
Industry. Having come to the Oil & Gas Industry through the
unusual route of banking Finlay is keen to show that you dont need
letters after your name to succeed.
Having left school keen to follow his love of the outdoors Finlay
pursued a career in Outdoor Activities, however with a young family
to support Finlay looked towards Retail Banking. With a flair in
Customer Services and a drive to succeed it wasnt long before
Finlay made the move into the role of Branch Manager and with a
top-preforming branch under him he was ready for his a new
challenge using his retail knowledge. A move to Commercial
Banking and its exposure to external contacts was the perfect fit for
Finlay.
Being based in Aberdeen the draw of the Oil & Gas sector was just
too much and with an introduction from a banking contact Finlay
moved into a new arena. Following a 4 year industry introduction
with Intermoor Finlay moved into his current role of Marketing &
Business Development Manager with Diamond Offshore.
Finlay is a regular global traveller seeking out opportunities for the
Diamond brand whilst also managing a number of key global
accounts on behalf of the company. Finlay has seen his
connections expand exponentially over the past 3 years and
believes that his attention to building trusting relationships and
attention to individuals key requirements is the key to success.

Murray Kerr
Managing Director - SengS
Murray is the founder and Managing Director of SengS Subsea
Engineering Solutions. He left School at fifteen with no
qualifications and began his career in the Royal Navy at seventeen.
After a period of six years he left the forces and began working in
the oil and gas industry.
With eight years experience in the sector, in 2012 he remortgaged
his home in order to start SengS. Within four months, SengS
achieved a net profit of 150,000 and within two years the net profit
increased to a whooping 2.1m. In the 3.5 years of running SengS,
Murray has re-invested all profit to build a start-of-the-art test and
assembly facility (approx 4.2m) which will play a major role in the
future growth of the business. Furthermore during this period has
ben shortlisted for numerous awards and has won almost all of
them.

Alan Blacklaw
General Manager (Operations) - Nexen
Alan is a former pupil of Robert Gordons College and a graduate of
Robert Gordons University. Alan graduated in 1990 with a Honours
degree in Electrical Engineering and is also a Chartered Engineer
with the IET.
Alan started his career with Total in 1990 as a Graduate Instrument
Engineer and has worked for a number of Operators and Tier 1
contracting companies in the last 26 years.
Alan now works for Nexen Petroleum UK Ltd as the General
Manager of UK Operations. Outside of work, Alan is married and
has two sons and his sporting interests lie in watching rugby and
cycling.

Rod Hutchison
Partner Ledingham Chalmers
Rod is a Partner at Ledingham Chalmers and acts regularly in
corporate acquisitions, mergers, disposals, MBOs, MBIs, start-ups
and reconstructions. He advises on a range of company law issues
including employee share schemes and related structures.

Neil Smyth
Construction Director Morrison Construction
Having being brought up within a farm, quarry and contracting
family business where Neil worked from ten to nineteen years old,
he then decided not to pursue a career there and joined Morrison
construction twenty three years ago after a lucky break!
Starting as a trainee technician and then setting out engineer Neil
preferred to learn as he earned and made his way up through the
ranks to construction director three years ago under the principles
of hard work, using his initiative, learning from his mistakes and
common sense (the latter can get you far).
Neil has been a chartered builder for six years and the current
charted institute of building chairperson in Tayside.

Rob Cowman
Engineering Director EC-OG
With a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from RGU, he has worked
for several large service companies including Weatherford, Expro,
Cameron and GE.
His area of expertise is pushing boundaries in technology whether
that be going to new limits in equipment design or taking
technologies to the oilfield using his knowledge of materials and
design. Rob has several patents to his name which have been
converted into commercial products.
As Engineering Director of EC-OG Rob leads the team developing
the Subsea Power Hub.

Steve Whyte
Subsea Operations Advisor Apache North Sea
After a career spanning over two decades in the British Army living
the honour and privilege of leading soldiers in the whole spectrum
of conflict all over the world Steve found himself deciding that he
wanted a more stable home life for his own three wee warriors so
we amicably parted company.
Whereupon I was hugely fortunate in securing my current role as
the Subsea Operations Advisor for Apache North Sea acting as the
technical authority for the diving and ROV operations across the
entire Apache subsea asset base.

Sponsorship Opportunities
Principal Sponsor
Branding:
As the principal sponsor, your companys brand will be promoted widely before, during and after the
event alongside the title of Principal Sponsor. This will include:

Company feature in the launch page of the Mentor Scheme event on www.aypgroup.co.uk
Logo on invitation to the Finalist Event Launch on the 20th April at Trinity Hall
Pop-up banner, or similar, at launch event on the main stage that will be seen on the
video/pictures taken on the night. Sponsor can also provide a logo for the lectern if required.
Acknowledgement in the press releases for the launch
Main coverage on the AYP Mentor Scheme finalists feature
Acknowledgement via AYP Social Media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook)
Exclusive principal sponsor logo
Video blogs Sponsor fade in and out on all video blogs done by the mentorees during their
progress updates over the course of the year

Leading up to the event:

Invitation to the exciting launch event being held on April 20th 2016
Option for principal sponsor to provide a video regarding their support of the event which will
be utilised on AYP media for showcasing the event
On the night:
Group photograph with presenter on the evening together with members of AYP committee
and mentors
Thanks from the AYP Founder on the evening of the launch night
Invitation for up to ten guests from the sponsors company
After the event
Opportunity for photograph to be taken with the mentors, AYP Committee and the selected
mentorees for the mentor scheme 2016

Cost - 1500

Associate Sponsor
Branding:

Acknowledgement as associate sponsor with logo, direct link and company profile on the
dedicated AYP web page
Acknowledgement via AYP Social Media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook)
Coverage in the AYP Mentor Scheme finalists feature
Pop up display (or similar) displayed at registration desk for the launch event which will be
seen as everyone arrives at Trinity Hall
Sponsor logo for your use
Sponsorship of plastic name holders used on launch night
Smaller logo on all communications to advertise the event

Leading up to the event:

Invitation to the exciting launch event being held on April 20th 2016
On the night:
Group photograph with presenter on the evening together with members of AYP committee
and mentors
Branding on the registration desk situated at the entrance to the Trinity Hall
Thanks from the AYP Founder on the evening of the launch night

Cost - 750

Benefits to Sponsors
Media exposure
Access to over 5000 AYP members
Very active social media campaign
Name associated with a successful event
inspiring tomorrows business leaders
Cost effective marketing to a wide audience

Testimonials
From previous AYP Events:
"Great opportunity for young professionals at the start of their careers to network with and interrogate
industry professionals and really understand what is going on with recruitment in the energy sector to
allow them to build and develop their long term career. A really worthwhile event!!"
Will Ritchie, Careers at RGU
"AYP pulled together a great event, with an innovative approach and fresh take on the (tired) topic of
Skills Shortage. There were some good challenges on what actually constitutes the skills shortage in oil
and gas, but also a keen focus on how we can collaborate as a business to ensure we don't create similar
problems for our successors twenty years from now. Well done AYP on pulling together and keeping the
buzz"
David Priestley, TAQA
"Fantastic evening, the AYP discussion event has enabled me to meet new people and get a fresh insight
into the oil and gas industry and the challenges it faces. The event is informal and friendly allowing
people to ask questions to the experts that they may not usually get the opportunity for. I look forward to
attending future events"
Amanda Inglis, Activity Mix
"Ross, I would like to congratulate you on an excellent evening at the AYP event last night. It was (as
expected) highly professional and extremely well attended with an exceptionally high calibre of people
on the panel (including your good self) in the room. Please thank the rest of the team for delivering such
a great event. I look forward to attending the next one and will let my friends, colleagues and business
contacts know the benefit they'll receive from attending"
Geoff Woodger, Stork
"A very professionally organised and well attended event with challenging well thought out questions
which led to a lively discussion. A welcome opportunity to hear views from a different audience to other
events"
Alix Thom, Oil & Gas UK

To confirm your interest as a sponsor or if you

have any further questions please contact

info@aypgroup.co.uk