The Challenge
Marine survey and offshore environmental work runs on its own calendar. Survey windows open and close based on species and seasons, not project preference. Vessel schedules do not flex easily. When a Marine Mammal Observer or a PAM operator needs to be on board, they need to be there, and the person who shows up needs to hold the right certifications, understand the offshore environment and be ready to work a rotation that does not follow a conventional working week.
Gardline operates globally - UK, Europe, and an expanding footprint in the US - and the roles it needs to fill are not the kind you find by posting a job advertisement. Marine Mammal Observers, Passive Acoustic Monitoring operators, Deployment Specialists, Acoustic Specialists, Environmental Scientists: these are niche disciplines with limited talent pools and genuine compliance requirements around how they are engaged.
The complexity compounds when you add payroll and legal compliance across three jurisdictions to a programme that needs 40+ people deployed simultaneously on rotation. What Gardline needed was not just a recruiter; it needed a partner who could manage the whole process from sourcing through to deployment and ongoing compliance, and do it reliably enough to be trusted with that responsibility for years at a time.
The Solution
ERSG became Gardline's preferred supplier for offshore and marine survey personnel - a status that was earned through consistent delivery and maintained across four years of an evolving global programme.
The relationship covered the full recruitment and workforce management lifecycle. ERSG sourced candidates with the precise technical profiles Gardline required, screened them against the specific operational and compliance standards of offshore and marine work, and managed onboarding in line with the timelines that vessel and survey schedules demanded.
Payroll and compliance across the UK, EU and US were managed by ERSG throughout. Right-to-work checks, contractual compliance and ongoing payroll administration across three jurisdictions - all handled as part of the service, not outsourced back to Gardline to manage.
The operational scale of the arrangement was significant: at peak, ERSG was managing 40+ resources simultaneously on 24/7 rotation across the Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind farm projects. That required ongoing workforce management, not just recruitment — tracking rotation schedules, managing availability and responding quickly when operational needs changed.
Over the course of the relationship, ERSG built the institutional knowledge of Gardline's operations, personnel standards and project requirements that allowed it to respond faster and more accurately as each new project mobilised.
The Outcome
500+ hires over four years. 40+ people deployed simultaneously on 24/7 rotation across two major US offshore wind projects. Payroll and legal compliance managed across three jurisdictions without incident.
Those numbers reflect a relationship that worked operationally, not just commercially. Gardline maintained ERSG as a preferred supplier for four years because the supply of specialist personnel was reliable, compliant and responsive — and because the administrative burden of managing that workforce was carried by ERSG rather than falling back on Gardline's own teams.
"ERSG were selected as a preferred supplier due to their offshore wind expertise and strong compliance practices. They have provided skilled personnel and managed payroll and legal compliance effectively."
- Environmental Crewing Officer, Gardline
What We Delivered
✓ 500+ specialist hires across global offshore wind and marine survey projects
✓ Preferred supplier relationship maintained for 4+ consecutive years
✓ 40+ resources deployed simultaneously on 24/7 rotation
✓ Full recruitment lifecycle managed - sourcing, screening, onboarding and deployment
✓ Payroll and legal compliance managed across UK, EU and US jurisdictions
✓ Marine Mammal Observers, PAM Operators, Deployment Specialists, Acoustic Specialists and more
✓ Workforce management sustained across the Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind programmes
✓ Institutional knowledge built to support faster, more accurate resourcing as new projects are mobilised
