Aberdeen-based Nessco has been built from the ground up by a man determined to carve a place for himself in the UK's burgeoning oil and gas industry, the Financial Times reports.

Speaking to the paper, Nessco founder Tom Smith said that he was a late bloomer and only developed an interest in maths and physics during a training course in engineering.

And despite a brief stint as an apprentice in Scotland's demanding fishing industry, Mr Smith soon went back into training, realising that his career would lie in telecommunications.

Then, as the UK oil and gas industry blossomed in the 70s, Mr Smith realised he was uniquely placed to use his skills within the sector and after working for Plessey and Shell, he set up Nessco and began offering a complete telecoms service to oil and gas platforms in the UK and further afield.

"Some of these platforms or vessels offshore are essentially like small towns, so they need the whole thing from catering to power generation to telecoms systems," he explained.

In June, Nessco announced continued success in the first quarter of 2009, with its order book boosted by two lucrative contracts in Australia and Iran.

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