PRESS RELEASE: Neil Douglas Announced as Chair of New GUH South Hub

May 10, 2022

We’re pleased to be able to join the official announcement from Global Underwater Hub (GUH) regarding the naming of their board. Neil Douglas, co-owner and Director at Viper Innovations has been appointed as a member of the main GUH board and will also become Chair of the GUH south hub Advisory Group. A new GUH south office will be opened in or around the Bristol area within the next 12-18 months. There will be 3 hubs in total across the UK – Scotland & Northern Ireland, North England, Wales and South England – which will provide collaboration and networking space with technology to connect the UK and global underwater community.

Neil Douglas has been in the Subsea Controls Industry for over 30 years and in 2007, along with co-director Max Nodder, he established Viper Innovations, a company that specialises in technology development and integrity management of subsea controls and electrical distribution equipment. He will join a number of other industry professionals on the GUH board, who have also been selected for their expert insight, leadership skills and strategic thinking.

Neil commented: “I am absolutely delighted to join the GUH board and to help develop the strategies that will support and enable UK companies to exploit the huge opportunities in the growing blue economy.”

The Global Underwater Hub, officially launched at Subsea Expo in February of this year has transitioned from Subsea UK and expanded to become a cross-sector body that cover the entire ‘blue economy’, including offshore energy (subsea oil and gas, offshore wind, carbon capture, tidal, wave and hydrogen), aquaculture (Fisheries), defence (naval) and also telecoms and subsea mining.

The GUH has been created to assist the UK’s supply chain to achieve a significant share of the global growth in the ‘blue economy’, while transforming the UK’s underwater industry into one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in the country. Backed by both the Scottish and UK Governments with £13m in funding, the organisation will accelerate the transition of the industry to net zero, create high value jobs, new technology, and support growth in exports.