We’re excited to welcome a familiar face back to EEL. Paul Fisher, who originally joined the business in 2012 and served as Commercial and Business Manager until 2018, returns to lead the team as our new Managing Director.

A career rooted in exploration

“I never really saw myself as academic,” Paul says, reflecting on his early years growing up in the West Country. After leaving school with A-levels, he moved to London at just 18 to begin a career in the civil service. But the pull of more technical, hands-on work soon led him to retrain in surveying and civil engineering. “But unfortunately, just as I finished my Civil Engineering degree, the UK’s construction crash in the 90s happened”, he adds.

However unfortunate it seemed at the time, it turned out to be a pivotal moment. After spending a couple of years working for an NGO acquiring hydrodynamic data from a remote river delta system in Tanzania, he found his way offshore as a hydrographic surveyor and eventually moved to Great Yarmouth, where he took on a project management role for Andrews Survey. Since then, he’s worked across multiple sectors and geographies, from Survey Manager at a new-start survey company UTEC (now part of the Acteon Group), to heading up the geotechnical commercial team first at Horizon UK and later Gardline following its merger.

A track record in delivering growth and building teams

At Gardline, Paul led the geotechnical commercial team through a significant period of change. Following the acquisition of Horizon by Boskalis and merger with Gardline, he rebuilt the team from the ground up. Under Boskalis governance, within just four years, they delivered significant growth – trebling the company’s fleet of drill ships and annual revenues, but most importantly ensuring that risk management protocols were well embedded in the commercial processes and profitability targets were routinely met or exceeded.

Coming full circle: returning to EEL

Paul’s relationship with EEL goes back more than a decade. He first connected with the business while working at UTEC, where EEL supplied 2DHR equipment. That led to a conversation and eventually a role as EEL’s Commercial Manager.

Now, as Managing Director, he’s excited to return to a business he knows well. “It’s a local business that can make a real difference to local people’s lives,” he explains. “We’re in a position to work with regional suppliers and partners and have an impact that stretches across the world.”

Paul’s aspirations for EEL are grounded in four areas of focus: clarity, efficiency, growth, and differentiation. He’s especially motivated by the company’s ability to support the energy transition.

“Energy is like food; we’ll always need it,” he says. “Global warming is unfortunately a fact of life, and we have a responsibility to be part of the energy transition. At EEL, we aspire to be enablers in the renewables space, supporting everything from carbon capture to offshore wind.”

“We’re focused on building something sustainable, efficient, and different. I’m excited to work with our clients and partners to take EEL into its next chapter.”

A message for our clients

If there’s one word Paul wants to define EEL’s relationship with its clients, it’s transparency.

“In everything we do, our clients should know what they’re getting, trust what they’re getting, and like what they’re getting,” he says.

He adds “Bruce has run the business fantastically for over four decades, so it’s an honour to take on this role. We’d like to continue building on the foundations and relations that he’s formed – and will still be working closely with him as he steps into his advisory role as Chairman.”

Beyond the office

Outside of work, Paul enjoys keeping active. His number one favourite thing to do is (gentle) cycling, but he also loves walking his Whippets (despite the occasional stress it puts on local wildlife), and exploring local towns, villages and most importantly coffee houses, with his wife Jo.