Students from Aboyne Academy have been helping offshore accommodation specialist ARCADION design an exhibition stand for this year's Offshore Europe.

The project is part of ARCADION's Partnership Charter with the Aberdeenshire secondary school, forged in 2012 through the Scottish Business in the Community initiative.

Students from two S3 design and technology classes were initially involved, working alongside ARCADION's design team to put together colour board ideas for the stand. A smaller group is now continuing the collaboration as the final stand takes shape.

ARCADION technical director Clive Gregory said: "We've been very impressed by the standard of the students' ideas — they have shown great imagination and creativity and their contributions will feature in the final design."

Some of the Aboyne Academy students will also get the chance to see their hard work translated into reality as they will be joining the ARCADION team at the flagship oil and gas show in September.

Mr Gregory added: "Our partnership with Aboyne Academy is proving to be highly rewarding for all of us — the school and everyone from ARCADION — and we're already looking ahead to our next project."

Wood Group PSN have awarded ARCADION a contract worth over £2 million for the design, specification, procurement and installation of new facilities within Shell's Brent Alpha existing offshore accommodation.  The workscope includes the provision of additional cabins, recreation areas, laundry and office areas and is due for completion at the end of 2013.

ARCADION have been helping pupils at Aboyne Academy prepare for the world of work by providing workshops on letter writing techniques, CV tips and interview best practices.  A number of workshops have been held at the school with staff from ARCADION presenting on how to write effective covering letters and the layout and content of CV's.  We also gave advice on how to conduct oneself at an interview and suggestions on what to prepare beforehand.

Feedback from the pupils and the school was very positive and it's planned to make these type of workshops an ongoing resource. 

Clive Gregory, ARCADION Technical Director added - “ARCADION are delighted to be able to support the Curriculum for Excellence be it through the supply of materials, our knowledge or our work experience.  We are looking forward to strengthening this Partnership with Aboyne Academy and are happy to be involved in our wider community in this way”.

ARCADION is pleased to be providing catering and accommodation maintenance services to TOTAL E&P, via the Aramark hotel services contract.  ARCADION's services cover the Elgin, Franklin, Dunbar and North Alwyn platforms.