A Christmas Message From DOCAN
From the MD of DOCAN Ltd – Engineering Consultants, Richard Carroll, Dec 2025.
As of writing this news article, it’s a week before we break up for Christmas, and a good opportunity to summarise how the year has gone. Hopefully, this is interesting to our people, our clients, potential clients, and anyone watching who is interested to see how a seed of an idea can grow into a serious machine.
Firstly, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. If, like our team you have worked hard, you deserve it. Take some time off, enjoy your family and friends, rest and recoup, and get ready to battle and enjoy 2026.
We started in 2017, so we are not far from being a decade old. I was the first Engineer who started, working in my attic. Since then, we have evolved significantly, and particularly these last few years have been great to show sustained and steady growth.
As founders, myself and Jayne’s aim was to create a meaningful business, doing some great work, working with great people, and solving some of industries biggest problems. Coming back to 2025, and in reality, DOCAN has now exceeded our original expectations. The foundation is now set, and the next 10 years shall be very interesting to say the least.
We have completed and solved a number of highly challenging projects of national significance. We’ve been expert witness’. We’ve worked in many countries and industries. Added lots of value to our clients, and reduced their risk.
In 2017, our initial USP was delivering complex Structural Mechanics and Stress Analysis scopes, starting with an offshore Fitness for Service assessment of a Pressure Vessel in the North Sea, and secondly, working for Sharp on some new high tech electronics equipment. In 2025, we have a strong track record in Mechanical, Structural, Process and Process Safety, Advanced Engineering (CFD, FEA, CAE and Multi Physics), and we are doing more and more multi discipline projects.
As with most companies, we want to do more, we want to grow and be profitable. Our Targets are aimed at growth, and as of writing this post we have met our targets for December already. The targets will be going up soon once again.
The funnel and pipeline for 2026 is healthy and diverse, with work in UK, Europe, USA, CANADA, Australia, Middle East, Africa and more, in many industries. From Technology development in Onshore and Offshore Drilling, to Carbon Capture and Renewables, to working in the Nuclear industry on legacy and new technology. We’ll be working even more in data centres – from energy management and design, supporting M&E construction, to design of metallic and plastic piping and primary and secondary structural design. We’ll be keeping the lights on in industry where our Mechanical, Structural and Process teams enable sites to stay safe, they’ll also be doing FEED and Detailed design projects for many clients. We’ll also be doing a lot more in the high tech and machinery design especially in the construction industry.
Many of our projects are supported with Advanced Engineering from our FEA, CFD and Multi Physics teams, and we will be doing more and more complex work in these areas. Examples are Explicit Dynamics, Explosions, Reaction Kinetics, Combustion, Electromagnetism, and so on.
In 2025, we welcomed new people to the team, from experienced engineers to graduates, and in 2026 this will evolve further, increasing skill and experience at the top end, and building bandwidth and fire power at the lower end which in time will evolve. We will also bring more management capabilities into the team, as well as supporting roles. Our first new recruit for 2026 has accepted an offer – this is in CFD and Process Engineering.
If you’re into Mechanical, Civil/Structural, Chemical/Process and Project Management, keep looking out, since we will be recruiting. We’ll also be on the look out for Electrical, Control and Instrumentation Engineers in 2026.
In 2017, we had 2 clients. In 2025, we have many new clients which is great, but very importantly, we have retained, maintained and continued to work with many of our current clients. In 2025 we worked with nearly 50 clients. We do what we say, at a fair price, to good, predictable and definable quality, we add value, and we reduce risk. With a Can Do attitude – and our clients appreciate this.
Investments – in 2025, with started a project to enable us to be more flexible in our working approach, and to be more secure. This was a significant investment (hardware and software), which will result in technology advancements, and being Cyber Essentials + certified. This will aid in our growth, give our people more flexibility and enable us to be safer.
AI and the Future – whether you like it or not, AI is here in one form or another, and it will grow. We are forward thinking, and will be taking advantage of AI and GPU’s and CUDA. If this is of concern, talk to us, and we will show you what we are doing, what we plan on doing, and how this will help you.
We have broken ground in a few new industries, especially data centers and construction equipment as well.
For 2026…. we have some great plans, we will be having good growth, we will be getting some new exceptional people, and watching our people grow, working with new and old clients, maintaining and developing the business.
What is really exciting though, is what we don’t know.
Good luck for 2026.
We will be back on the 5th of Jan, ready to go.
